By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) condemned the recent acts of “imperialist aggression” directed at Venezuela, saying it constitutes a serious violation of international law, and national sovereignty.
The United States conducted a large-scale military strike against Venezuela and captured president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, who were flown out of the country on January 3.
The party’s NEC deliberated on the implications of the current Venezuelan crisis, including pressing internal matters, as the party gears up for its anniversary celebrations this weekend.
Scheduled for Saturday at the Moruleng Stadium in Rustenburg, these celebrations will mark ANC’s 114 years as a liberation movement. The event presents an opportunity for party President Cyril Ramaphosa to deliver a keynote address that outlines the organisation’s objectives for the forthcoming year.
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula briefed the media on the sidelines of January 8 activities at the Rustenburg Civic Centre in the North West on Tuesday.
Mbalula said, tensions between the US and Venezuela were driven by the South American country’s natural resources. And he added that Washington’s actions violated international law.
He also accused the Trump administration of applying international legal principles selectively.
“The ANC expresses its solidarity with the people of Venezuela, who continue to endure sustained political, economic and diplomatic pressure. As a liberation movement forged in struggle against colonialism, apartheid and external domination, the ANC recognises that such aggression is seldom accidental, Mbalula said.”
The party has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to intervene in the matter.
The ANC called on peace-loving people in South Africa, across Africa and globally, including within the US, to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Maduro and his wife, Flores, and an end to economic coercion.
The toppled Venezuelan president has since appeared at the Manhattan federal court, in New York. He pleaded not guilty to narcotics charges.
Meanwhile the FF Plus has argued that the ANC cannot claim to speak on behalf of all South Africans on Venezuela or broader foreign policy matters. FF Plus Leader Corné Mulder has welcomed the US action against President Maduro, describing the Venezuelan Government as illegitimate and responsible for widespread human rights abuses.
Mulder has maintained that critics of Washington’s intervention have remained silent for years while Venezuelans endured poverty, repression and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
He has also accused the ANC of hypocrisy, pointing to its past handling of international law during the Omar al-Bashir matter and its position on Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The FF Plus has further claimed that the decision by the Department of International Relations and Co-operation to raise the Venezuela issue at the UN Security Council was a unilateral ANC move, rather than a position agreed to by the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Mbalula also condemned Mulder’s public remarks praising the US operation.
He said there were “reactionary forces” within the GNU but stressed that the GNU was not a “melting pot” of shared ideology.
Mbalula insisted that Mulder’s views did not reflect those of what he described as progressive forces in SA, many of whom, both inside and outside the GNU, have condemned developments in Venezuela.