The Minister of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs, Yván Gil, highlighted this Thursday the efforts being made by the Bolivarian Government to rescue Venezuelan migrants kidnapped in the United States (US) and in the maximum security prison in El Salvador, known as the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), under false criminal charges.
From the «Antonio José de Sucre» Yellow House (Seat of the Venezuelan Chancellory), during his speech at the International Seminar «The Criminalization of Migration and the Human Rights of Migrants,» the Venezuelan Chancellor detailed all the efforts being made by the Executive Branch, led by President Nicolás Maduro, «to denounce before the world, before the United Nations, before the international system, before what calls itself the International Community, this humiliation to which our compatriots have been subjected.»
He referred to the more than 240 Venezuelan migrants kidnapped in the Central American country and emphasized that «they have attempted to turn this into an element of threat against the entire people of Venezuela, to stigmatize our nationality, our identity.»
In this regard, Gil emphasized that «the Venezuelan government has been firm in denouncing this situation to the international community, denouncing the aggressors, denouncing the United States government, and its Secretary of State, the ineffable Marco Rubio, who designed a policy invoking a law that criminalizes migration, even though he is the son of emigrants.»
He denounced that the US administration of Donald Trump violates the laws of the United States, as well as international law and the human rights of migrants, whom they transferred «without any type of trial, without any type of accusation, and, of course, without any evidence, to imprison them in a Nazi-style concentration camp.»
Firm people and diplomatic work:
In the face of these illegal actions, the diplomat praised the unity and solidarity of the people. “Today, they are trying to stigmatize the Venezuelan population and use it as a weapon to attack the Bolivarian Revolution. Like everything they have done against the Bolivarian Revolution, what they have done is find a united people, a firm people, a supportive people, a people who come together and present themselves to the world as a single bloc demanding liberation, just as we will achieve.”
The Minister reiterated that the head of state has made efforts through the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and sent communications to the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres; the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Volker Türk; the High Commissioner of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi; as well as to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other regional and multilateral forums:
“We have been carrying out diplomatic work to raise awareness. Unfortunately, so far, we have had 19 days of silence from these organizations,” he lashed out, while he hopes they are “analyzing the situation to provide a forceful response in the coming days. This is what we hope, because we must face it with responsibility and courage. Not only are the rights of Venezuelans being violated here, but the rights of Latin Americans are being violated, the rights of migrants in general,” he emphasized.
Mobilization and Hope:
Gil insisted that in the face of this massive harm and threat against migrants, global mobilization is necessary. Therefore, he expressed his faith, hope, and confidence “that there will be a significant reaction from the international system to condemn these acts. And, beyond that, we are confident that justice will prevail and that we will soon have our migrants back.”
He affirmed that the rights of the kidnapped Venezuelans will soon be restored: «While this is happening with the migrants unjustly detained in Nazi concentration camps in El Salvador, the Vuelta a la Patria (Return to the Homeland) Plan also continues to work. Today, hundreds of migrants are returning from Mexico, yesterday (some arrived) from the United States. We will continue working on this,» he stated.