Terrorist Attack on Venezuela

Letter to President of Security Council

- Samuel Moncada, Permanent Representative of Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela to the United Nations, May 13, 2020 -

H.E. Mr. Sven Jürgenson
Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the
Republic of Estonia to the United Nations
President, Security Council (May 2020)
New York.

Distinguished Ambassador Jürgenson,

I have the honor to address Your Excellency in the opportunity of denouncing before the Security Council of the United Nations, entrusted with ensuring the maintenance of international peace and security, that, between 03 and 04 May 2020, armed groups of mercenaries and terrorists, organized, trained, financed and protected by the governments of the Republic of Colombia and the United States of America, illegally entered the Venezuelan territory, with the declared purpose of perpetrating criminal acts against our people, of executing selected assassinations against high-level officials of my government, and, ultimately, after executing the assassination of President Nicolás Maduro Moros, of destroying the system of freedoms and rights of our independent and sovereign nation, through the imposition of a violent regime of colonial looting never seen before in our history.

The criminals who entered our national territory came from Colombia. One of the strike groups disembarked in the State of La Guaira, where the main airport of our country is located at, just twenty (20) kilometers from the Venezuelan capital. Nonetheless, the "Operation Gedeon," designated as such by the mercenaries and terrorists, was frustrated by the Venezuelan authorities. The action of neighboring communities in the areas infiltrated by the attackers, in coordination with the public order forces, resulted in the arrest of most of this group of mercenaries and terrorists, following the detection of two (02) boats in which at least sixty (60) criminals penetrated our country, and who had large amounts of high-caliber lethal weapons for carrying out their plan.

To date, the Attorney-General of the Republic has confirmed the arrest of forty-seven (47) persons, while many others have warrants for their participation in the operation aimed at flooding our country with violence and pain. This is a crime against humanity, executed under aggravating circumstances, since it used the presence of a deadly pandemic that affects all of humanity -- the most serious one in the past hundred years -- as a military advantage. This is terrorism taking advantage of an extraordinary humanitarian circumstance that requires our national authorities to devote their attention to the preservation of the life of our people.

In addition, the authorities of the Venezuelan government, in their search for mercenaries and terrorists in the Southern region of the country, found another batch of weapons. Hence, we must also inform that, on 09 May 2020, three (03) military boats of the Colombian Navy, equipped with two (02) .50-caliber machine guns and four (04) M60 machine guns, were found on the banks of the Orinoco River, in the State of Bolivar.[1] All the weapons were provisioned with thousands of rounds of ammunition, enough for perpetrating a large-scale attack (See Annex 1). The operations to track and capture the individuals who were onboard those boats are currently in full swing, as we are aware of the existence of another group of mercenaries and terrorists; in this case, the group in charge of striking through the Southern border, as announced by the U.S. citizen Jordan Goudreau in a video released on the very same day that the operation was launched.[2][3]

Excellency,

Today, the participation of an extremist sector of the Venezuelan opposition is already a fact confirmed by international media, after a contract signed on 16 October 2019 between Deputy Juan Guaidó,[4] head of that violent sector of the Venezuelan opposition, and U.S. citizen Jordan Goudreau, came to light. The latter, who even presented evidence of having been a member of President Donald Trump's personal security, is a former member of the United States Army Special Forces and is currently the CEO (President) of the private security contractor Silvercorp USA, whose task was to design, train, equip and execute the mercenary invasion against the Venezuelan people. To this end, the payment of USD$212,900,000.00 to Silvercorp USA was agreed by Deputy Juan Guaidó, who would use funds from the accounts stolen from our nation by the Government of the United States of America and deposited in banks located in that country. Similarly, it is important to highlight that additional forms of payment were established, with the oil of our nation, once the crime was perpetrated. (See Annex 2 and 3[5])

The contract in question, valid for 495 days from the moment of its signature, declares as its purpose "the exit/removal of current Venezuelan Regime and entrance/installation of recognized Venezuelan Government", through the "neutralization" of President Nicolás Maduro Moros and the remnants of the "former regime," in order to achieve the installation of Juan Guaidó in the Presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Likewise, the agreement talks about the existence of private financing, through a "bridge loan," obtained through the contributions of capitalist businessmen, who, in their capacity as initial "investors," would have a preferred vendor status to obtain contracts with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela once the new government is installed. According to international media reports, a group of owners of large fortunes in the United States of America, with interests in Venezuela, discussed their capital contribution to the operation. Amongst them is the U.S. citizen Roen Kraft, heir to a well-known multinational food producer corporation.[6] All aspired to an initial profit of a minimum of 55% on what was contributed to the financial fund of the operation, as stated in the contract in reference itself.

The agreement itself is the express and formal demonstration of the violation of a number of norms, not only of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, but also of international law, as well as of Conventions and Treaties signed by my country. Thus, it is an agreement for the implementation of large-scale violence against life and properties, without any sort of legal or moral considerations. The contract even establishes the use of "all necessary measures" available for the realization of the goals set in it, as well as the use of "all types of conventional weapons," while exonerating Silvercorp USA's mercenaries and terrorists from all responsibility for the consequences of their crimes. It is a fact never seen before: a contract for assassinating at large scale that offers the murderers prior and absolute immunity.

The terrorism is not limited only to high-level officials of the Venezuelan State, as it is also planned against the civilian population in those mop-up operations that are considered essential to control power for the duration of the contract. In that regard, it established the use of lethal force against civil riots and the use of weapons prohibited by international Conventions and Treaties, as well as organic and non-organic weapon systems, including those of a chemical nature. The contract, therefore, hands over to a private U.S. company the power over life and death, as well as the liberties, rights and properties of the thirty million inhabitants of Venezuela.

Excellency,

Allow me to inform you that amongst the mercenaries and terrorist arrested in flagrante delicto there are two (02) U.S. citizens, former members of the United States Army Special Forces, identified as Luke Denman and Airan Berry, both linked to Jordan Goudreau - member of the personal security of President Donald Trump. Jordan Goudreau signed the aforementioned contract in his capacity as CEO (President) of Silvercorp USA and appeared publicly in international media, on 03 May 2020, declaring himself as the head of the "Operation Gedeon," together with the Venezuelan citizen Javier Nieto Quintero, Captain (retired) from the Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela.

The detained U.S. mercenaries and terrorists, who have already been brought by the relevant authorities to court, have confessed their role in the operation and have declared that their mission was: i) to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro Moros; ii) to take control of the two (02) main airports of the country; iii) to guarantee the landing of foreign aircrafts in Venezuelan territory; and iv) to attack the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence and the Bolivarian Intelligence Service of Venezuela. Also, they declared that the training and logistics base to prepare the armed attack against our country and our people was located in Colombia, and that they had set off from that country when the military aggression began.[7]

Moreover, there is public information that confirms that U.S. citizen Jordan Goudreau, in fact, provided personal security services to President Donald Trump in various political activities, at least during the year 2018, as recorded in images available in his very own social media (See Annex 4). Similarly, Jordan Goudreau kept informed of the plans and his actions prior to 03 May 2020 U.S. citizen Keith Schiller,[8] who, for over sixteen (16) years, has been in charge of President Donald Trump's personal security and who, in his capacity as private businessman and owner of the U.S. security company KS Global Group LLC, is now in charge of the security for public events of the U.S. Republican Party.[9]

In addition, international media has informed that the following agencies of the U.S. government had detailed knowledge of the planning that was being carried out in Colombian territory for the attack of mercenaries and terrorists against Venezuela: Department of Homeland Security, Central Intelligence Agency, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.[10]

Allow me also inform you that the premises located in Colombian territory, where this group of mercenaries and terrorists were trained, belong to one of the most wanted drug lords of Colombia, Elkin Javier López (a.k.a. "doble rueda").[11] This powerful kingpin of drug trafficking networks, with influential political connections that allow him to evade justice in his country, supported the operation in exchange for free and unhindered movement for his cartel in the Venezuelan territory, once Deputy Juan Guaidó was installed in power by the U.S. company Silvercorp USA.

It is worth underlining that this is the second time in which Deputy Juan Guaidó's links with drug trafficking groups in Colombia are publicly confirmed. As you may recall, the first time was back on 27 September 2019, when our Vice-President denounced before the General Assembly of the United Nations[12] the logistical coordination that exist between Deputy Juan Guaidó and one of the cruelest and most feared assassins today in Colombia, John Jairo Durán Contreras,[13] who is the head of the narco-paramilitary group "Los Rastrojos," which controls the North of Santander region in the Colombian territory.

Excellency,

My country's government has been denouncing, since at least 2018, the organization of terrorist attacks against senior Venezuelan officials, plotted in Colombian territory, with the sponsorship of the government of that country. As you will recall, on 04 August 2018 a frustrated assassination attempt was carried out against President Nicolás Maduro, using drones loaded with explosives. This attack was planned in Colombia, where the drone operators were trained and from where the equipment and materials used to carry out such a criminal plan entered Venezuela.[14]

It shall be recalled that the financer of this operation, Osmán Delgado Tabosky, currently lives in the State of Florida, in the United States of America, whose government provides him with safe heaven, despite the fact that the request for extradition was made in a timely manner, in order to bring him to Venezuelan justice and process him for his crimes.[15] The impunity in this terrorist attack is so abhorrent that one of the mercenaries involved in the criminal operation of 03 May 2020, Raider Alexander Russo (a.k.a. "Pico"), also participated in the attack with drones in reference that attempted against the life of President Nicolás Maduro Moros in 2018 and who, since then, was protected for almost two (02) years by the Colombian government, while training in that country for his next operation.

The following attack occurred on 23 February 2019, when the Governments of Colombia and the United States of America organized, financed and led an operation aimed at violating the sovereignty of Venezuela and putting at risk the peace and security of my country and the region, with the excuse of carrying out an alleged "humanitarian operation." Then, they promoted violent events at the Colombian-Venezuelan border in order to justify an armed invasion against my country, something that constitutes itself a clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the guiding principles of humanitarian assistance. The aggression forced our government to break diplomatic and consular relations with the Government of Colombia, in order to protect the peace, security and stability of our nation. The evidence of this aggression was shared by my government with the Security Council of the United Nations on the 26th of February of the same year (S/PV.8472).

Furthermore, on 28 February 2019 (S/PV.8476) we denounced before the Security Council of the United Nations the formation of a mercenary army, in Colombian territory, which is organized, financed, trained and protected by the Governments of Colombia and the United States of America, and that is made up, among others, of deserters from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces of Venezuela, whose main objective is to attack our country and seek, through armed means, the toppling of the constitutional and democratically-elected government of my country. This complaint was reiterated by our country's Vice-President before the General Assembly of the United Nations on 27 September 2019, while indicating the precise coordinates of the training camps of said mercenaries and terrorists in Colombian soil.[16]

After this public and formal denunciation, made through the corresponding diplomatic channels due to the seriousness of the case, the Governments of Colombia and the United States of America proceeded in the manner we all already know: they ignored the complaint, denied that the events were taking place and redoubled their protection and support to the groups of mercenaries and terrorists that were preparing to attack my country.

Excellency,

Since the beginning of March of this year, defined by the U.S. government as "maximum pressure March"[17] against our country, my government has been alerting of and facing an unusual increase in the mobilization of military troops, equipment and weapons, both of the U.S. and Colombian armies, right in the border region of La Guajira, where the three (03) training camps of the mercenaries and terrorists that would later participate in the recent armed incursion against Venezuela were located.

In that context, our national authorities managed to prevent multiple attempts for weapons and explosives to illegally enter the Venezuelan territory, from Colombia, the following two (02) being the most notables: i) On 05 March a significant lot of military weapons was seized at the airport of Valencia, in the State of Carabobo, which was attempted to be smuggled through a flight coming from Bogota;[18] and ii) On the very same 05th of March, in the State of Tachira, during a security operation carried out against the narco-paramilitary group "Los Rastrojos," 650 kilograms of explosives were seized, along with enough material to prepare up to two thousand (2,000) homemade bombs, and 37 individuals were arrested,[19] of whom at least one (01) was part of the groups that were training in Colombia to launch the armed attack that would turn out to be the "Operation Gedeon."

The organization of this operation of mercenaries and terrorists is directly linked with the declarations and military actions undertaken by the Governments of the United States of America and Colombia throughout the month of March of this year, which reveals the clear indications of their intention to carry out, in an imminent manner, an armed aggression against Venezuela (See Annex 5). Today, after the statements of participants to this plan of armed aggression came to light, all the previous denunciations my government made throughout the current year are corroborated.

Even more, a former U.S. Navy Seal, Ephraim Mattos, founder and Executive Director of Stronghold Rescue and Relief -- a "non-profit" charity organization registered in the United States of America -- and who trained the mercenaries and terrorists in Colombia, affirmed that the whole criminal operation was planned to take place in March, but that he did not know why it had not been carried out in that month.[20] Thus, it is clearly demonstrated that the weapons seized, the terrorists arrested, the movements of troops, the incendiary declarations of high-level spokespersons from Washington and Bogota and the other warmongering actions that took place in March were pointing, in fact, at the concretion of this criminal plan which, due to unknown reasons, was not carried out at that time.

For his part, he who until 26 March 2020 was the commander of the operation, the fugitive from Venezuelan justice, Clíver Alcalá Cordones, declared to the media in multiple occasions the purpose of the armed groups that were training in Colombian territory.[21] He even publicly recognized on that very same date, after the Colombian police intercepted a war weapons cache, that these weapons were en route to his camp and that they had been purchased with money from the Venezuelan people, provided by Deputy Juan Guaidó, through a contract signed with U.S. advisers. At that time, he affirmed that the National Intelligence Directorate of Colombia and the security agencies of the United States of America, with whom he maintained permanent contact, knew of this plan.[22]

We duly informed the Security Council of the United Nations of the terrorist plans of Cliver Alcalá Cordones in our letter dated 03 April 2020 (S/2020/277). By that time, said criminal had already spent a week in New York City, working with U.S. government security agencies, which by then had detailed knowledge of what was being prepared against my country. As on previous occasions, the administration of President Donald Trump feigned ignorance of the preparations, in order to protect the mercenaries and terrorists. Even worse, the operation continued, with impunity, confirming once again the complicity of the Governments of Colombia and the United States of America in their systematic efforts to undermine the peace, security and stability of Venezuela and the entire region.

Undoubtedly, the governments of these countries provided technical, logistical, financial and operational support, as well as the necessary weapons for the preparation and execution of this criminal operation. Moreover, the Colombian Government provides safe haven and facilitates the free movement of mercenaries and terrorists in its territory, while the U.S. Government provides them with access to satellite communications, geo-location data, transportation, entry and exit routes, among others.

On the other hand, it is worth highlighting that the weapons of war that would be used in the raid against our country were purchased by Silvercorp USA from another U.S. company High-End, Defense Solutions, registered in the State of Florida, at a cost of over $150,000.00.[23] In this regard, it is important to recall that, according to U.S. law, any company supplying weapons that are to be exported must have a prior authorization issued by the U.S. Department of State.[24] The complicity and role played by the Governments of Bogota and Washington in this operation is therefore evident, and is a clear example of how both violate in a flagrant manner, among others, resolutions 239 (1967), 1373 (2001) and 1456 (2003) of the Security Council of the United Nations.

In light of all the existing evidence, it would be inconceivable to think that this is a simple coincidence, or that the weapons in question went unnoticed from the United States of America to Colombia, or that there was no authorization from the U.S. Department of State, especially considering that part of this lot of arms had been seized by the Colombian police on 23 March 2020.[25] Nevertheless, the Colombian authorities preferred not to carry out an investigation into that confiscation and, instead, continued supporting, from their territory, the presence of mercenaries and terrorists and the preparation of the armed aggression against my country, even by ensuring that those weapons reached the hands of the criminals.

Hence, we are extremely concerned about the impunity that has been encouraged by the Governments of Colombia and the United States of America, which have both refused to carry out investigations into these terrorist attacks and to arrest those responsible that are on their respective national territories. This practice has only served to encourage a criminal alliance between drug-trafficking networks, violent political fanatics and national security agencies to carry out new armed aggressions against my country. This new criminal power can, thus, at any moment, unleash a scenario of uncontrollable violence, with terrible consequences for the peace, security and stability of the entire region.

In this regard, we denounce and condemn the protection that the U.S. government provides to both Jordan Goudreau and the Venezuelan citizen Javier Nieto Quintero, organizers of the terrorist plan, who today enjoy safe haven in the United States of America, from where they publicly proclaimed their responsibility in preparing the armed aggression against my country and from where they informed that all their actions were of prior knowledge of the Government of the United States of America.[26] We demand that the U.S. authorities promptly initiate the corresponding investigations, in order to achieve their arrest, and that they comply with their relevant legal international obligations, including the principle of extradite or prosecute.

On the other hand, we shall not forget that, in July 2019, Deputy Juan Guaidó appointed Iván Simonovis, fugitive from Venezuelan justice who lives in Washington, DC, where he is protected by the U.S. Government, as "Special Commissioner for Security and Intelligence at the Embassy to the United States", in order to carry out liaison functions with different U.S. security agencies, including the DEA, CIA and the Department of Homeland Security. In this regard, it is worth highlighting that in a letter dated 05 February 2020, Iván Simonovis publicly requested President Donald Trump to take accelerating measures to "end Maduro's time."[27]

It is in this context that on 13 February 2020 he meets with President Donald Trump and the National Security Council, at the White House, to "advance the next measures that will be executed against Maduro's regime."[28] As the top liaison between Deputy Juan Guaidó and President Donald Trump, Iván Simonovis was fully aware of all details of "Operation Gedeon" and kept constant contact with the mercenaries and terrorists who were training in Colombia to carry out their plan against my country. Thus, the clearest evidence of the existing coordination between President Donald Trump and Deputy Juan Guaidó is Iván Simonovis, who still today publicly supports the plan of armed aggression and all its implications.[29][30][31]

Excellency,

As you are aware, the Government of the United States of America has repeatedly stated that "all options are on the table" to "overthrow" President Nicolás Maduro Moros. One of the clearest signs of the instigation by the Government of President Donald Trump to attack our Head of State and Government and to breach the peace of our people has been the measure recently announced by the Attorney-General of the United States of America to set a bounty for rewarding criminals for the violation of the human and political dignity not only of the Minister of Defense and other senior officials of my Government, but also of the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela himself, who, by virtue of his investiture, clearly enjoys immunity under international law. It is evident that the Government of President Donald Trump behaves itself, with impunity, as a rogue State that promotes international terrorism; as an irresponsible actor, contrary to international law, constituting itself as the main threat to peace in Venezuela.

The U.S. government is determined to apply its policy of "maximum pressure" against the Venezuelan people, through a strategy of calculated cruelty and the expansion of actions of economic asphyxiation -- a heinous crime that uses the deadly pandemic as an advantage to maximize collective suffering -- coupled with repeated threats of use of military force. Now, in a higher phase of its criminal actions, it combines the humanitarian and military aggression with the covert operations of mercenary and terrorist groups, from Colombian territory. As such, it is a public fact that President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of more than 25 warships in the Caribbean Sea, surrounding our coasts, and ordered the activation of his country's military reserve to reinforce operations to the North of Venezuela,[32] the latter order issued on 30 April 2020, just hours before the start of the criminal operation in question.

More serious still, as of today, 13 May 2020, despite the resounding defeat of "Operation Gedeon", four (04) U.S. warships are dangerously heading towards the Venezuelan coasts, with clear hostile intents and seeking to further escalate tensions. This is not the first provocation of this kind, as we have previously denounced in letters to the Security Council of the United Nations this type of manoeuvre and the threat of use of military force by the Government of the United States of America (S/2019/641, S/2019/765, S/2020/130 and S/2020/277).

Likewise, it is important to recall that on 29 April, the Secretary of State of the United States of America, Mike Pompeo, affirmed that his government was accelerating the plans to reopen its Embassy in Venezuela: "so that we are ready to go, as soon as Maduro steps aside and I am confident that we will raise that flag again in Caracas."[33] On that same date, the Government of the United States of America advised all its citizens in Venezuela to shelter in a safe place until commercial flights resumed operations,[34] for its intention was to protect its citizens from the violence that was looming our country.

Furthermore, after the failure of the criminal operation, on 06 May, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that "there was no U.S. Government direct involvement in this operation" and that, if such had been the case, things would have turned out differently. Similarly, at that time, he indicated that the United States of America will use every tool at its disposal to bring home the U.S. citizens detained. He also affirmed, in relation to who had financed the operation that sought to generate bloodshed in Venezuela, "We are not prepared to share any more information about what we know took place. We will unpack that at an appropriate time."[35]

These alarming remarks confirm: i) the participation of the U.S. government in the criminal operation; ii) the U.S. government's knowledge of the details of that operation, including on its financing; and iii) the absurd and illegal notion of the Government of the United States of America that seeks to grant universal impunity to all its citizens, even to those who commit terrorist acts in sovereign countries, simply because it considers them superior to the rest of humanity. Consequently, President Donald Trump not only violates international law, but promotes its permanent violation. Thus, by abandoning his responsibilities as the Head of State and Government of a member of the community of nations, he becomes the most powerful and dangerous rogue President in the world.

Excellency,

The United States of America is the main promoter of wars worldwide, as well as the country that uses mercenaries the most to impose its colonial interests with "regime change" operations. Just from 2007 and 2017 alone, for example, the U.S. Department of Defense spent some $250 billion on mercenary contracts.[36] Meanwhile, in Latin America and the Caribbean, President Donald Trump proclaims his racist vision of the continent with the infamous Monroe Doctrine; a XIX century supremacist prejudice that considers the countries to the South of America as its "backyard" and as its natural control area. The actions against Venezuela are, precisely, an expression of this anachronistic, inhumane and extremist ideology.

The use of mercenaries and non-State actors allows the Government of the United States of America to evade its responsibilities under Article 2.4 of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as under the Geneva Conventions and the norms of international humanitarian and human rights law. Any armed action of one State against another one must either be authorized by the Security Council of the United Nations or comply with the provisions of Article 51 of the UN Charter, which refers to the inherent right of States to self-defense. Denying its responsibility, as it does in the Venezuelan case, it wrongly believes that it can continue deceiving the world with violent covert operations.

There are several precedents for Washington's criminal conduct. In 1986, for instance, the Government of the United States of America was found guilty by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for organizing, financing, training, supplying and equipping the contras (the armed opposition to the then Government of Nicaragua), as well as for selecting their military or paramilitary targets, and for the planning of the entire operation in Nicaragua, including the commission of activities in violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.[37] Similarly, in that landmark case, the ICJ categorically ruled that armed support to rebels in other States amounts to aggression and constitutes an armed attack against the sovereignty of a host State. Let us also recall, in this regard, that the architect of that U.S. operation was Mr. Elliot Abrams, who, deliberately, is the current Special Representative of the United States of America for Venezuela, and who now intends to implement that very same criminal policy against my country.

Excellency,

Both the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations have adopted numerous resolutions condemning the use of mercenaries and terrorists as a form of interference in the internal affairs of States. The international community condemns attacks by mercenaries and terrorists because they violate the territorial integrity, the political unity, the sovereignty and the independence of States, as well as the inalienable right of peoples to self-determination and to fully exercise their human rights. Hence, governments that whether directly or indirectly support such criminal operations become a threat to international peace and security.

With the evidence presented in this letter, we proved to the world that the Governments of Colombia and the United States of America are responsible for the armed aggression against my country, through the support they lend to groups of mercenaries and terrorists, to whom they provide training, financing, equipment and safe haven. By doing so, those Governments are promoting a conflict of incalculable dimensions in Venezuela and in the entire region, while ignoring the proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, as per the declaration adopted in 2014 by the Heads of State and Government of our region.

The Governments of Colombia and the United States of America, thus, fail to comply with their obligations under specific norms of international law, including UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, amongst which, in addition to those previously referred to, we must mention resolutions 2625 (XXV), 36/103 (1981), 54/151 (2000) and 74/138 (2019), as well as the International Convention Against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries.

In light of the seriousness of the events denounced herein and the dangerous escalation of the aggression against my country, allow me to inform you that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will be shortly bringing its case before the appropriate judicial bodies at the international level.

In that order, I would like to respectfully request hereby, through you, in your capacity as President of the Security Council of the United Nations, that said body urgently holds the discussions that may be necessary in order to: i) recognize that the aggression perpetrated by the Governments of Bogota and Washington against Venezuela, between 03 and 04 May 2020, was an armed attack that attempted against the peace and security of both my nation and the region; and ii) issue a clear statement condemning and prohibiting the use or threat of use of force in all its forms and manifestations against Venezuela, in accordance with the powers entrusted upon that body by virtue of Article 39 of the Charter of the United Nations.

We consider, in this regard, that the Security Council of the United Nations must effectively assume the responsibility that has been conferred on it by the Charter of the Organization for ensuring the maintenance of international peace and security. We will continue to denounce the aggressions against my country, which are perpetrated at a time when the entire international community should be devoted to savinghumanity from the coronavirus catastrophe.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations has made an appeal for an immediate ceasefire to all conflicts around the world, in order to dedicate ourselves to the fight against who today is our common enemy: the COVID-19. From Venezuela, we have expressed our support to that appeal. However, we regret that a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations, as is the United States of America, opposes that objective, ignoring that, in the context of the current pandemic, either we all win, or we all lose.

To conclude, I inform you with patriotic pride that the armed aggression of the Governments of the United States of America and Colombia, as well as that of their mercenaries and terrorists, has been defeated. The enemies of Venezuela encountered a people and a government that is united, organized and disciplined to defend its sovereignty. Once again, the national spirit of the fishermen and peasants' communities, of civilians and the military, of the entire society, united in defense of their life, peace and independence, was proven. We know that the danger is not over yet and we are preparing to defend ourselves from new threats, thus, I have the honor to report to you that our morale is high to face the enemies of humanity, eye-to-eye, with no fear. Our country does not represent a threat to anyone and expects everyone to learn this lesson: Venezuela is not for sale, it will never be a colony and our people, with serenity and determination, will fulfill its duty to be free.

At last, I respectfully request your good offices, in your capacity as President of the Security Council of the United Nations for the month of May 2020, to circulate this letter and its attachments to the Member States of said body for their due information, and that it be issued as an official document. An identical copy of this communication has also been sent to H.E. Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Without any further ado, I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to Your Excellency the assurances of my highest esteem and consideration.

Samuel Moncada
Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the United Nations

Notes

1. Coordinates LN: 06°13'30", LO:67°25'13". Vessel numbers ARC-1823, ARC-1160 and ARC-1162. Model Boston Wheeler. Serials of .50-caliber machine guns: 301575 and 334472. Serials of M60 machine guns: 90824, 91788, 89270 and 91246.

2. See here

3. See here

4. View video here

5. Annex 3 can be reviewed here

6. See here

7. View video here

8. Washington Post

9. See here

10. See here

11. See here

12. See here

13. TeleSUR