Under instructions of President Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela informed UN Secretary-General António Guterres of its firm and irrevocable decision to denounce the Rome Statute and initiate its final withdrawal from the ICC, pursuant to Article 127.
Venezuela believes that the acting of the Court reflect a proven geographical bias, whish has disproportionately concentrated its work on African and Latin American countries, to the detriment of the Global South. This pattern reveals an international justice system that, far from being applied equitably, has been instrumentalized to deepen inequalities among peoples and disown their right to self-determination and sovereignty.
This bias is not a mere procedural coincidence, but rather the reflection of an institution that has placed its mechanisms at the service of interests unrelated to justice and the peoples it claims to protect. Therefore, we reject this dimension of lawfare, which perpetuates the persecution against the Venezuelan people and exacerbates the inequalities that international justice should correct. We reiterate our commitment to a genuinely equitable justice, respectful of the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples.