American economist and UN adviser Jeffrey Sachs delivered a scorching attack on US actions at the emergency UNSC meeting on Venezuela on 5 January, urging the Security Council to defend international law. The issue,’ he said, is not the character of the government of Venezuela’.
The issue is whether any UN member state has the right to determine Venezuela’s political future or to exercise control over its affairs. Sachs urged the UNSC to uphold, not abandon, the foundational principles of territorial integrity and political independence enshrined in the Charter.
The world’s leading nations had failed to defend international law in the 1930s, Sachs said, leading to renewed global war. The United Nations emerged from that catastrophe as the second attempt to put international law above international anarchy.
‘Given that we are in the nuclear age, failure cannot be repeated.
Humanity would perish.
There would be no third chance.’
Quoting the introduction to the Charter – the UN was created ‘to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind – Sachs argued: ‘Given that we are in the nuclear age, failure cannot be repeated. Humanity would perish. There would be no third chance.’
All member states should refrain from unilateral threats, coercive measures, or armed actions undertaken outside the authority of the UN Security Council. Sachs concluded that to fulfil its responsibilities under the Charter, the Security Council should immediately affirm the following actions:
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- The United States shall:
- immediately cease and desist from all explicit and implicit threats or use of force against Venezuela
- terminate its naval quarantine and all related coercive military measures undertaken in the absence of authorization by the UN Security Council
- immediately withdraw its military forces from within and along the perimeter of Venezuela, including intelligence, naval, air, and other forward-deployed assets positioned for coercive purposes.
- Venezuela shall adhere to the UN Charter and to the human rights protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- The United States shall:
Sach’s recommend, the UN Secretary General should appoint a special envoy to engage relevant Venezuelan and international stakeholders, who would report back to the Security Council making recommendations consistent with the Charter.
All member states should refrain from unilateral threats, coercive measures, or armed actions undertaken outside the authority of the UN Security Council.
Peace and the survival of humanity depend on whether the UN Charter remains a living instrument of international law or is allowed to wither into irrelevance, he concluded. That is the choice before this Council today.
Watch Jeffrey Sachs full speech below, courtesy of DMR News