Venezuela Denounces OAS Intention to Activate TIAR

Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza issued a statement Wednesday to denounce the intention to activate the Inter-American Reciprocal Assistance Treaty (TIAR) against Venezuela pushed by a group of governments of the Organization of American States. ​​

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"It is painful that countries which were invaded by United States troops and whose peoples were massacred by the application of the TIAR, endorse today a similar crime against a brother country, in a clearly invalid session of the OAS," the statement read.

At the OAS assembly, 12 countries voted in favor of the implementation of an initiative against Venezuela, saying the country represents "a threat to the security of the region," after Colombia accused Venezuela of allegedly protecting armed groups within its territory. 

Venezuela has rejected the accusation and pointed out the lack of evidence, affirming these allegations are just an excuse for military intervention.

The TIAR is an agreement signed in September 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It functions as a mutual mechanism of defense between member countries of the OAS. The treaty was imposed on the region by the United States within the context of the Cold War, with the aim of legitimizing military interventions in Latin America for ideological reasons.

"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela calls on the countries and peoples of the region to firmly reject the ambitions of this small group of countries which is threatening the peace and integrity of the country and the entire continent," the statement reads.

The South American country withdrew from the treaty in 2013 together with other nations pertaining to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), including Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua.

However, the opposition-held Venezuela National Assembly, in contempt and suspended since 2016, illegally and unconstitutionally approved the reincorporation to the treaty on July 23, 2019. A flagrant violation of the Constitution as article 236 state that the public figure whose the attributions and obligations are to “celebrate and ratify treaties and international agreements” is the president and not legislators.

"Venezuela will remain attached to United Nations Charter, to the respect of International Law, to the practice of multilateralism and peace diplomacy, to the search of dialogue amidst the diversity, coexistence, and well-being of our peoples," the Foreign Ministry concluded.