The Bolivarian Government of Venezuela has issued a statement rejecting the criminalization of migrants as a state policy of the United States. Following are some excerpts from the letter:
«The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically and forcefully rejects the proclamation of the United States government, which infamously and unjustly criminalizes Venezuelan migration, in an act that evokes the darkest episodes in human history, from slavery to the horror of the Nazi concentration camps.»
It also clarifies that: «The Alien Enemy Act of 1798, on which this presidential order is based, is an anachronistic law that not only violates fundamental and current laws of the United States of America, but also violates the international legal system on human rights, the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and the Declaration on the Human Rights of individuals who are not nationals of the country in which they live, constituting its attempted application as a crime against humanity.»
It also states that: «The Venezuelan migrant who crossed our borders in search of alternative ways of life did so for economic reasons, a consequence of the hardships created for our people by the criminal blockade of our economy, imposed by Western governments against all Venezuelan society…»
