Moviment Graffitti called on the Maltese government to condemn the USA’s military actions in Venezuela that saw President Nicolás Maduro captured and transported to the USA.
“If Malta remains silent while military might violates international law, we undermine the very system that keeps smaller nations safe”.
“The Maltese government and the European Union must condemn these horrific attacks on a sovereign nation,” the left-wing activist group said.
US military forces bombed Venezuela’s capital city, Caracas, overnight on Saturday. Shortly after, Donald Trump announced that the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, had been “captured and flown out” of the country.
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is currently in a New York jail and will face drug trafficking charges.
Reacting on Sunday, the Maltese activist group said the US used drug trafficking as a guise.
“Although it is widely recognised that this claim is fabricated, as Venezuela has no major role in drugs reaching the US.”
“The latest attack on Venezuela is nothing more than another invasion aimed at overthrowing a government and taking hold of the country’s vast crude oil reserves through the installation of a puppet regime.”
“The people of Venezuela have a right to self-determination and should not be subjected to US imperialism,” Moviment Graffitti said.
They also criticised opposition leader and Nobel peace prize winner María Corina Machado’s support of the US action, saying she was ready to “sell off” her nation.
“She has begged the US to effectively invade her own country, luring them with the promise of the world’s largest crude oil reserves and effectively selling off her nation.”
“The US should not be allowed to bully countries that do not follow its agenda, flout and dismantle international law, without consequence,” they said.
Graffitti pointed to past US interventions that led to bloodshed, including the overthrow of Chile’s democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, in 1973, and the installation of a brutal dictator, Augusto Pinochet.
They also pointed to a more recent example.
“In 2003, the US invaded Iraq under the false claim that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.”
Graffitti said the US action is another example of “global powers shamelessly bullying and attacking their neighbours, just as Russia is doing with its Eastern European neighbours.”
“Unilateral military strikes on Venezuelan territory and vessels, the kidnapping of a president and his wife, as well as the imposition of a maritime blockade, constitute a criminal use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of a sovereign state.”
On Sunday afternoon, the Maltese government called for the “respect of international law” in the wake of the abduction of Maduro.
A government spokesperson added that Malta will continue to call for de-escalation, stability and a peaceful and democratic solution to the situation.
The spokesperson said the government is in close contact with European Union partners to monitor developments.