ALBA-TCP rejected the U.S. invocation of the Foreign Enemies Act

Published at: 18/03/2025 08:33 AM

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America - Peoples' Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) expressed, in a statement, its rejection of the decision of the United States government to invoke the Foreign Enemies Act of 1798.

In the statement, the Alliance described this measure as an act that constitutes a serious attack against the principles of international law and human rights.

The following is the full text of the press release:

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America - Peoples' Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) expresses its strongest rejection and condemns the decision of the United States government to invoke the Foreign Enemies Act of 1798, a rule that has only been used in war contexts and is now being used arbitrarily to justify systematic persecution against the Venezuelan migrant community.

This proclamation, lacking any legal basis and based on fabricated arguments, constitutes a serious attack against the principles of international law and human rights. Its objective is to stigmatize, criminalize and subject the Venezuelan diaspora to collective punishment, denying them their right to defense and exposing them to arbitrary expulsions, expropriation of property and the forced separation of families.

Even more alarming is the use of third countries as extrajudicial detention centers, in a practice that represents a crime against humanity. The recent deportation of 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador, without trial or due process, and their detention in a high-security detention center, constitutes a mass kidnapping, with the complicity of the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, led by the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, who have publicly confessed their participation in this illegal operation. This action sets a disastrous precedent that violates the sovereignty of States and threatens the dignity of Venezuelan men, women and minors.

The ALBA-TCP denounces that this racist and xenophobic policy constitutes an attack against Venezuela and against all of Latin America and the Caribbean, by establishing a dangerous mechanism of transnational repression that can be applied against any other people in the region. The nations of the Global South cannot remain silent in the face of this outrage, which recalls the darkest stages in recent history, when the use of discriminatory laws justified segregation, persecution and the suppression of fundamental rights.

Faced with this serious situation, the ALBA-TCP urges the international community to speak out firmly against this policy of aggression, and reiterates its unwavering support for the people and Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. As the founding leaders of our Alliance understood, only the unity and resistance of peoples can curb the forces of intolerance and arbitrariness that today threaten our sovereignty and regional stability.

Caracas, March 17, 2025

Mazo News Team