Cuba: Attacks on Venezuela Represent a Blow to Regional Self-Determination

The Cuban cultural institution Casa de las Américas raised the alarm today about a new level of military escalation in the Caribbean, following the deployment of the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in waters near the coast of Venezuela.

In a statement issued from Havana, the institution stated that the operation is justified under the pretext of "combating drug trafficking," a narrative that, according to the text, has accompanied the extrajudicial killing of over 70 naval operatives in the Caribbean and the Pacific in recent weeks.

Casa de las Américas identified the ultimate goal of this mobilization as the overthrow of the legitimate government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, "at any cost necessary."

It also recalled the statements of a U.S. senator who grouped Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba under the label of "a drug caliphate," and warned that the consequences of such actions and rhetoric "could be catastrophic."

The institution reiterated that this escalation does not represent a danger exclusively for Venezuela, but is "a slap in the face to the self-determination and sovereignty of our peoples."

It emphasized that any military action against a sister nation of the continent constitutes a blow against all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Facing what it describes as the "prelude to an extremely grave crime," Casa de las Américas urged people not to observe the images of the military deployment as if it were a video game, but to condemn them from the historical memory of those who have "felt imperial aggression and violence on their own flesh."

The institution reaffirmed its call for international solidarity with the peoples of the region and reiterated its rejection of all forms of foreign intervention in matters that are the exclusive competence of sovereign states.