[News] Venezuela Condemns Washington's Criminalization of Venezuelan Migrants

[Anti-Imperialist News]

orinocotribune.com
<https://orinocotribune.com/venezuela-condemns-washingtons-criminalization-of-venezuelan-migrants/>
Venezuela Condemns Washington's Criminalization of Venezuelan MigrantsMarch
17, 2025
------------------------------
[image: Heavily armed Salvadoran police agents transfer Venezuelan migrants
at the Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport, in San Luis Talpa, El
Salvador. Photo: Presidency of El Salvador.]

Heavily armed Salvadoran police agents transfer Venezuelan migrants at the
Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador.
Photo: Presidency of El Salvador.

Venezuela has categorically condemned the United States government’s
persecution of Venezuelans in the US, calling it an “infamous and unjust
criminalization of Venezuelan migrants.” The Venezuelan government’s
official statement <https://t.me/YvanGilPinto/4812> in this regard, issued
on Sunday, March 16, likens Washington’s position to “the darkest episodes
in human history, from slavery to the horrors of Nazi concentration camps.”

The statement condemned in strong terms the persecution of Venezuelan
citizens in the US, including the expropriation of their personal property,
assets, businesses, vehicles, and bank accounts. It also condemned the
targeting of Venezuelans in workplaces, schools, churches, hospitals, and
public spaces in the United State, and considered the threat of separating
children under 14 from their families as “profoundly indignifying.” The
statement emphasized that never before have children been labeled in
official documents as members of terrorist groups solely because of their
nationality.

On Friday, March 14, the US government sent 238 Venezuelan migrants to a
maximum security prison in El Salvador, accusing them of being members of
the Tren de Aragua gang, applying The Alien Enemy Act of 1798 as the
“legal” basis.

The Venezuelan government asserted that the United States’ actions violate
international human rights laws, including the UN Charter, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Convention on the
Protection of Migrant Workers. The statement attributed Venezuelan
migration to economic hardship caused by US-imposed illegal sanctions. It
condemned the characterization of migrants as “foreign enemies,”and instead
called them victims of geopolitical coercion.

The document also accused Venezuelan far-right opposition figures such as
María Corina Machado, Julio Borges, and Leopoldo López of complicity in
lobbying for sanctions and facilitating exploitative migration networks. It
asked for national unity and international solidarity—particularly from the
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)—to challenge what
it deems a dangerous precedent for the region.

Below is the full unofficial translation of the statement:

*The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically and strongly condemns
the proclamation of the United States government, which infamously and
unjustly criminalizes Venezuelan migrants, in an act that evokes the
darkest episodes in human history, from slavery to the horror of the Nazi
concentration camps.*

*The Alien Enemy Act of 1798, on which this presidential order is based, is
an anachronistic law that violates not only fundamental US statutes but
also international human rights frameworks, including the United Nations
Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers. Its
application constitutes a crime against humanity.*

*Venezuelan migrants, who sought economic refuge due to the hardships
inflicted by Western sanctions, are predominantly hardworking, dignified
individuals, not terrorists or “foreign enemies.” They are victims of a
criminal blockade designed to force regime change in Venezuela.*

*We condemn the persecution of our citizens, the seizure of their property,
and the threat to separate children from families. Never before has an
official document labeled children as terrorist affiliates solely due to
their nationality.*

*Extremist opposition figures, who lobbied for these sanctions, bear
responsibility for exploiting migrants through human trafficking networks.
Evidence of their crimes lies with US security agencies, awaiting impartial
investigation.*

*This proclamation, celebrated by unpatriotic collaborators, perpetuates
the systematic aggression against Venezuela that began with Barack Obama’s
2015 Executive Order. We urge for national unity and global solidarity to
combat this violation of human rights.*

*Venezuela will exhaust all diplomatic and legal avenues to defend its
migrants. We urge CELAC and the international community to denounce this
abhorrent precedent, which threatens our entire region. Only unity can
counter this segregation, persecution, and dispossession.*

*All of Venezuela demand respect for their migrants and their families!*

(Últimas Noticias
<https://ultimasnoticias.com.ve/politica/venezuela-condena-ley-de-eeuu-que-criminaliza-a-la-migracion-venezolana/>)
with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SC
<https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20250317/fb149bcd/attachment.htm>