QCOSTARICA – Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, allies of Russia in the region, attacked on Tuesday against the “double standards” of the international community for its attempt to for the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) to approve a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The three countries cite the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) towards the former satellite countries of the former Soviet Union in Eastern Europe to explain the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The most forceful was the Cuban ambassador to the UN, Pedro Pedroso Cuesta, for whom the resolution that failed last Friday in the Security Council due to the veto of Russia itself, and the one that the General Assembly plans to vote on today (Wednesday), it does not “take into account the legitimate concerns of all parties” in the conflict.
“It is not possible to rigorously and honestly examine the current situation in Ukraine without carefully assessing the factors that have led to the use of force,” such as the American “dedication” to continue the progression of NATO towards the borders of the Federation of Russia and the “delivery of modern weapons” to Ukraine that amount to “a military encirclement”.
“It is not possible to achieve peace by surrounding and cornering the states,” he warned before stating that “Cuba rejects the hypocrisy and double standards” of the international community, a term, the “double standards”, also used by the representative of Nicaragua, Jaime Hermida Castillo.
“The UN cannot be used to deepen conflicts,” said his Venezuelan counterpart, Samuel Moncada, whose country will not be able to vote as his country accumulates a debt of around US$40 million dollars with the UN.
Since the invasion began, Russia has used the “legitimate defense” provided for in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter to justify the invasion and repeats like a mantra that “this war has not started.”
“These military operations were initiated by Ukraine against the inhabitants of Donbas (the separatist region in the east of the country) and against all those who did not agree with it,” defended the Russian ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, on Monday, before the General Assembly.
A dozen countries, including Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uruguay, Panama, Guatemala, Peru and Paraguay are part of the nearly one hundred co-sponsor countries of the resolution presented by the Europeans and Ukraine, whose purpose is to condemn the Russian invasion.
The Vice President and Foreign Minister of Colombia, Marta Lucía Ramírez, one of the highest officials to address this extraordinary meeting of the General Assembly, asked Russia for “humanitarian, economic, legal responsibilities” for unleashing the conflict in Ukraine.
For her part, the former President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla (2010-2014), strongly criticized the support of Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba for the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to attack Ukraine militarily.
“It is not only embarrassing, but stupid,” lamented the former president.
“They give carte blanche to a regional power to invade militarily at will to change a government. They conjure up a dark past of our region from which they can only come out defeated,” added Chinchilla on her Twitter account.
El apoyo de Cuba, Nicaragua y Venezuela a Rusia, no sólo es vergonzoso sino estúpido. Dan carta blanca a que una potencia regional invada militarmente a su antojo para cambiar un gobierno. Conjuran un tenebroso pasado de nuestra región del que sólo pueden salir derrotados.
— Laura Chinchilla M. (@Laura_Ch) March 1, 2022
Chinchilla criticized Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, for his strong support for Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday during a telephone call on the sixth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the Kremlin.
“Nicolás Maduro expressed his strong support for Russia’s key actions, condemning the destabilizing activity of the United States and NATO, and emphasizing the importance of combating the campaign of lies and disinformation launched by Western countries,” the statement from the Kremlin said.
From Nicaragua, president Daniel Ortega has expressed his “solidarity” with Putin and supports the takeover of the Ukrainian cities, which he recognizes as “independent.” His government has also bought Russian weapons. Such is the case of an acquisition of 50 Russian tanks model T-721B1 in 2016.
After the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukrainian soil, Viacheslav Volodin, president of the Duma (Lower House of the Russian Congress), visited Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela to meet with his allies.
Alvarado demands withdrawal
This Tuesday, Costa Rica’s president, Carlos Alvarado, advocated seeking the path of peace, before the attack on Ukraine, before the Human Rights Council of the United Nations Organization (UN).
“The brave, enlightened and humanist route is peace. Today, the most courageous action a leader can take is to withdraw soldiers back to their families and not to kill. In just days, more than 300,000 people from Ukraine have left their homes and today are refugees,” Alvarado said.
The Costa Rican president urged the Council and the international community to join forces to achieve an immediate cessation of hostilities, and strengthen the mechanisms for dialogue and negotiation to prevent an escalation of the conflict.
Sources: La Nacion; Twitter; wire services
