MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation in Venezuela
25.2.2014 - (2014/2600(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Willy Meyer, Inês Cristina Zuber, João Ferreira, Sabine Lösing, Jacky Hénin, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Nikolaos Chountis, Marisa Matias, Alda Sousa on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
The European Parliament,
– having regard to Chapter 1, Article 1(2) of the UN Charter of 1945, with its stated purpose ‘to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace’,
– having regard to Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both of which state that ‘all peoples have the right of self-determination’ and that ‘by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development’,
– having regard to the principle of non-intervention laid down in the UN Charter,
– having regard to the declaration of the CELAC-EU Summit of Heads of State and Government of 27 January 2013, in which the signatories reaffirm their commitment to all the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and their decision to support all efforts to uphold sovereign equality of all states and to respect their territorial integrity and political independence,
– having regard to the statements by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign and Security Policy on Venezuela, in particular those of 14 and 21 February 2014,
– having regard to the declarations by the Argentinian Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel on Venezuela,
– having regard to the statements on the situation in Venezuela by Mercosur, UNASUR and CELAC,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Venezuela, in particular those of 24 May 2007[1], 23 October 2008[2], 7 May 2009[3], 11 February 2010[4], 8 July 2010[5] and 24 May 2012[6],
– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas on 12 February 2014 a demonstration was organised by students linked to right-wing and extreme-right political parties; whereas after this demonstration a small group of violent demonstrators attacked, with firearms and blunt objects, the building housing the Attorney-General’s office and several government buildings in Caracas and other Venezuelan cities, committing acts of violence and destruction against public property, as well as blocking the main traffic artery of Caracas;
B. whereas during the clashes two people were shot dead, namely the left-wing militant Juan Montoya and Basil Da Costa, a student and supporter of the opposition; whereas the way they were both shot in the head recalls the deaths of those who were killed by sharpshooters on 11 April 2002, as a means to justify the coup; whereas since then 13 people have been killed and 137 wounded;
C. whereas the violence is continuing with the clear aim of destabilising the democratically elected government of Venezuela; whereas this strategy is not new, as the scenario is similar to that of the coup of 2002 and the violence which followed the democratic election of President Nicolás Maduro in April 2013, when the groups concerned refused to recognise the election results and promoted violence causing the loss of 11 lives;
D. whereas the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has declared that these acts of violence are encouraged, organised and financed from abroad by organisations such as USAID or the US National Endowment for Democracy; whereas according to Wikileaks the US Department of State has been financing the Venezuelan opposition for at least 12 years;
E. whereas national and international media are presenting these events in a one-sided way; whereas the manipulation of information, in particular via social networks, has spread rumours and fake images taken in Syria, Chile, Egypt, Spain or Singapore as if they were from Venezuela;
F. whereas President Maduro has called for a National Peace Conference in Venezuela, to be held on 26 February 2014 with all political and social sectors willing to attend;
G. whereas 19 different elections have taken place in Venezuela in the last 14 years; whereas the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela includes mechanisms of participative democracy, such as the provision for a referendum revoking the President’s mandate;
H. whereas between 2006 and 2011 Venezuela moved up seven places, to 73rd place out of 187, in the UN Human Development Index; whereas over the last decade the Government of Venezuela has increased social expenditure by more than 60.6 %; whereas Venezuela today is the country with the lowest inequality rate in the region; whereas according to CEPAL (the UN Economic Commission for Latin America), Venezuela reduced its poverty rate from 48.6 % in 2002 to 29.5 % in 2011;
I. whereas Venezuela is the world’s fifth largest oil-exporting country and has the world’s largest proven oil reserves;
J. whereas this wave of subversive violence is happening at a time when the legitimate authorities of Venezuela are intensifying measures to combat the various forms of speculation and economic warfare affecting the country;
K. whereas Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel has called for the defence of democracy in Venezuela against attempts to destabilise the government, warning that coup attempts are advancing via new methodologies in Latin America and denouncing the corporate media multinationals such as CNN and Fox that broadcast war propaganda in the name of peace and hatred in the name of freedom;
1. Strongly condemns the current coup attempt and violence by right-wing and extreme-right opposition groups in Venezuela; regrets the loss of life and expresses its condolences to the families of the victims;
2. Deplores the destruction of public property in the country and calls for an immediate end to the violence;
3. Is deeply concerned at the destabilisation attempts against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela through violent acts, in a framework similar to the previous coup attempts of 2002;
4. Denounces the undemocratic and insurgent aims of this destabilisation campaign, unleashed on to the streets of Caracas and other Venezuelan cities by extremist groups; highlights the imperialist interest of the US in ensuring its access to Venezuela’s oil resources and its political aim of undermining the countries of ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America);
5. Considers that these events reveal the Venezuelan oligarchy’s fear that its interests are endangered by the profound economic and social transformations under way and the enduring popular support for the process;
6. Regrets the coup track record of a part of the opposition, who have on previous occasions placed themselves outside the democratic framework in attempting to break the Venezuelan constitutional order;
7. Reiterates its full support for and solidarity with the Venezuelan people, the Bolivarian process and the elected President Nicolás Maduro; rejects all attacks on Venezuelan democracy and sovereignty;
8. Supports the initiative taken by the Venezuelan Government of organising a National Peace Conference in Venezuela for 26 February 2014, inviting all political and social sectors;
9. Deplores the role played by international media in spreading rumours and using fake images with the aim of generating an atmosphere of violence and destabilisation that undermines the Venezuelan Government; recalls that freedom of information is a fundamental human right, and calls on the international media to act responsibly and cover the events in a fair, accurate and balanced manner, which is not currently the case;
10. Deeply deplores any interference by the EU or any country in the internal affairs of third countries;
11. Stresses that dialogue with third countries should not under any circumstances result in restrictions being imposed on the right of peoples to self-determination; deplores the fact that the EU and its Member States too often give priority to diplomatic, political or economic considerations over human rights, an approach which, moreover, gives rise to a policy characterised by double standards, which is at odds with a universal vision of human rights; stresses the importance for the very credibility of the EU of avoiding any exploitation of these issues;
12. Recalls the importance of Venezuela’s role in the creation and strengthening of a cooperation and integration process for the benefit of the peoples of Latin America;
13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Mercosur Parliament and the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly.