Online ReporterJulian Pecquet
SOUTH Africa has condemned the United States military intervention in Venezuela at the United Nations, positioning itself as the African leader against an emerging neo-colonial era of “might makes right”.
Urging the UN Security Council to hold an emergency session, Pretoria demanded to be heard on January 5, despite not currently being on the council.
Uganda and Eritrea were granted a chance to speak up against the capture of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, who were arraigned on drug trafficking and weapons charges in a federal court in New York later in the day.
Accused by President Donald Trump of discriminating against Afrikaner farmers and hit by a 30 percent US tariff — the highest in Africa — Pretoria hit back hard after Trump barred President Cyril Ramaphosa from attending next year’s G20 summit in Florida, deeming South Africa “not a country worthy of membership anywhere”.
The task fell to Jonathan Passmoor, South Africa’s acting deputy permanent representative, who is white.
“Failure to act decisively against such violations is tantamount to inviting anarchy and normalising the use of force and military might as the main form of discourse in international politics,” Passmoor told the world body.
“This would be a regression into a world preceding the United Nations, a world that gave us two brutal world wars and an international system prone to severe structural instability and lawlessness.”
Passmoor reminded the council that the UN system played a “pivotal role” in “ending the colonial subjugation by powerful countries over others.”
Axis of resistance
Eritrea and Uganda echoed the sentiment. As chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) representing 121 countries, almost two-thirds of all UN member states, Uganda shared that the NAM co-ordinating bureau “categorically condemns the act of aggression” perpetrated by the US against Venezuela.
Eritrea spoke on behalf of the Group of Friends in Defence of the Charter of the UN, an eclectic collection of 18 mostly autocratic nations, including US foes China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
In Africa, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Mali and Zimbabwe are members along with Eritrea.
The group’s members also denounced the US “act of aggression”, said Eritrean Permanent Representative, Sophia Tesfamariam, as well as Trump’s own stated intention “to occupy and govern the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and to exploit the natural resources and administer the wealth of that sisterly nation in what can only be described as the confession of a clear plan of annexation”.
Delicate balance
Economically vulnerable and eager not to upset the US during delicate trade talks, including efforts to revive the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), other African nations adopted a pragmatic approach reiterating support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states while calling for calm.
Speaking for the current three African members (“A3”) on the council, Liberia, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberian Permanent Representative, Lewis Garseedah Brown, echoed the African Union’s January 3 statement of “grave concern”.
“The A3 expresses its solidarity with the people of Venezuela and reiterates the African Union’s commitment to peace, stability, and mutual respect among nations and regions,” Brown said.
“It is important for all parties, both within Venezuela and in the broader international community, to exercise restraint and responsibility, upholding international law and avoiding any action that could escalate tension or threaten regional stability.”
In the first act of Somalia’s month-long presidency of the Security Council, Permanent Representative Abukar Dahir Osman called the meeting on Venezuela’s behalf but otherwise stayed out of the fray.
—The Africa Report
