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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Venezuela Condemns Washington's Criminalization of Venezuelan Migrants</h1>March 17, 2025</div>
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<img width="394" height="263" src="https://orinocotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/oscar-murillo-respeto-derechos-venezolanos-efe-1024x683.jpg" alt="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." style="margin-right: 0px;">
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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.</p>
<p></p></div><div id="gmail-content"><div><p>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 <a href="https://t.me/YvanGilPinto/4812" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>
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.”</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Below is the full unofficial translation of the statement:</p><p><em>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.</em></p><p><em>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.</em></p><p><em>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.</em></p><p><em>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.</em></p><p><em>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.</em></p><p><em>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.</em></p><p><em>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.</em></p><p><em>All of Venezuela demand respect for their migrants and their families!</em></p><p>(<a href="https://ultimasnoticias.com.ve/politica/venezuela-condena-ley-de-eeuu-que-criminaliza-a-la-migracion-venezolana/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Últimas Noticias</a>) with Orinoco Tribune content</p><p>Translation: Orinoco Tribune</p><p>OT/JRE/SC</p><div><a href="https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/"><span>
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