Statement from the Government of Ecuador, 9 March 2014 The sanctions of the United States of America against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Today, the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama approved an executive order under which a "national emergency is declared with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the US presented by the situation in Venezuela". The Government of Ecuador expresses its deep rejection for the content of this executive order, since it represents an unacceptable attack on the sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and against the officials of the government. Far from contributing to appease society and promote a peaceful atmosphere, the unilateral sanctions measures outside international law undermine efforts towards dialogue and aim to alter the institutions of the Venezuelan government in an undemocratically way. It is especially negative that the order has been approved just 48 hours after the UNASUR visit to Venezuela. The Secretary General, Ernesto Samper, accompanied by three Foreign ministers of Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia, as well as a representation of Uruguay joined as President Pro tempore of the body, that held meetings with various branches of the Venezuelan state and a representation of the opposition politics as well as with President Nicolas Maduro. The positive development of these discussions is a solid basis for restoring peace, dialogue and coexistence in Venezuela. In view of the background in recent decades, resulting in various forms of assistance, including military led by the United States in the cases of Dominican Republic, Granada, Panama, Cuba, Chile, Guatemala and Nicaragua, among others, naming Venezuela as an "unusual and extraordinary threat to security and foreign policy of the United States" presents a serious risk to peace and democracy in Latin American and the Caribbean region derived from such qualification. The imposition of sanctions to third parties as a form of political and economic pressure violates the principles of non-interference and equality among States, enshrined in the United Nations Charter. This executive order, the third unilateral action against Venezuela in recent weeks, is in contradiction to the statements done by the US President himself, who described the blockade against Cuba as an ineffective policy. Also, the executive order in question is a recurrent attack to the presumption of innocence, applying sanctions without any investigation or court order. Due to the arguments stated above, the Government of Ecuador: . Expresses its solidarity with the people and the democratic government of Venezuela to the illegitimate actions to undermine its institutions and affect the stability of the country; . Rejects any attempt to destabilize democratic external or internal order in Venezuela and calls on the international community and the US in particular to respect the Venezuela's sovereignty; . In the office of the Presidency Pro Tempore of CELAC, reaffirms the validity of the statements issued by the organization on January 29 and February 11, urging all States of the international community to respect the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, presented at the Second Summit of CELAC, in its relations with the countries of the region. From: http://www.cancilleria.gob.ec/comunicado-del-gobierno-del-ecuador-sobre-las- sanciones-de-los-estados-unidos-de-america-contra-la-republica-bolivariana-d e-venezuela/?lang=en -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
