Four UNSC members boycott US-arranged meeting on Venezuela at UN

UNSC Members Boycott US-Arranged Meeting At UN

This file image shows the United Nations Security Council members during a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York on November 13, 2017. (By AFP)

Four members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) have boycotted an informal meeting of the Council arranged by the United States to discuss Venezuela, arguing that the body should not meddle in the domestic affairs of countries.

The US had arranged the meeting on Monday to discuss the political situation inside Venezuela, where there have been tensions between the government and the opposition recently.

The UN ambassadors of Russia, China, Bolivia, and Egypt, who boycotted the event, reminded that meddling in the internal affairs of other countries was a violation of the UN Charter and described the US move as “illegal.”

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told reporters that he hoped Venezuela could settle its issues peacefully without any external interference.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia speaks to the media as a Security Council Arria formula meeting on the situation in Venezuela is underway, at the UN headquarters in New York, on November 13, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

In hostile remarks, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told the so-called Arria-Formula meeting, “Venezuela is an increasingly violent narco-state that threatens the region, the hemisphere, and the world.”

Referring to the US-arranged meeting, Venezuela’s UN envoy, Rafael Ramirez, said, “This is a hostile act by the United States and clearly an act of interference.”

The US is a fierce critic of the government of Venezuela, often communicating with Venezuela’s opposition against Caracas.

The Venezuelan government has repeatedly urged Washington to stop meddling in its affairs and orchestrating moves to destabilize the Latin American country.

Venezuela has been gripped by an acute economic crisis that has spilled into the political scene, with President Nicolas Maduro’s critics blaming him for the ailing economy. Tensions previously rose over the establishment of a Constituent Assembly as well.

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