Mr. President,
Since September last year, Cuba has been denouncing the United States’ hegemonic and criminal plans, and its aggressive actions against Venezuela and the region. We have clearly exposed the serious and unpredictable consequences of the U.S. government’s irresponsible behavior for the political, social, and economic stability of Latin America and The Caribbean, and for international peace and stability in general.
On December 23rd, we presented to this same body the sequence and escalation of actions carried out by the United States in record time, with the aim of forcibly overthrowing the legitimate and constitutional government of Venezuela and end the civil-military union.
To carry out its plans for domination, the United States resorted to various maneuvers, including extrajudicial killings, piracy, and maritime terrorism against oil tankers and their crews in international waters of the Caribbean Sea. The United States also imposed an illegal naval blockade on Venezuela and politically designated its legitimate government as a foreign terrorist organization. The United States had previously subjected Venezuela to prolonged unilateral coercive measures, economic suffocation, smear campaigns, and attacks against some of its important institutions, exposing the country to an atrocious psychological warfare.
On January 3rd, with utter disregard for the Charter of the United Nations and international law – including relevant resolutions adopted by this Council and the General Assembly – the U.S. military attacked Venezuela with total brutality and malice aforethought and, in an unacceptable, vulgar, and barbaric act, they kidnapped the legitimate president, Nicolás Maduro, and his partner, Cilia Flores.
Cuba condemns in the strongest terms the United States' military aggression against Venezuela and categorically reiterates its full support and solidarity with the Venezuelan people and government, and joins the call for the United States government to release the constitutional President Nicolás Maduro Moros and his wife, Cilia Flores.
In the criminal attack perpetrated by the United States, 32 Cubans lost their lives in combat while carrying out missions on behalf of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, at the request of counterpart agencies in that country. Our compatriots fulfilled their duty with dignity, resisting fiercely until they were killed in direct combat or in the bombing of the facilities. Through their heroic actions, they upheld the solidarity of millions of their fellow citizens.
Mr. President,
This cowardly aggression by the United States against Venezuela is a criminal act that violates international law and the UN Charter. This aggression constitutes a dangerous escalation of the United States' years-long war campaign against the sister nation of Venezuela, which has intensified since September 2025 with the aggressive naval deployment in the Caribbean Sea, under false pretexts and unfounded accusations, without any evidence.
The U.S.’s military attack on Venezuela is completely unjustifiable, unprovoked, and illegitimate. Based on the aberrant doctrine of “peace through force” and it disrupts the stability and peace that has characterized our Latin American and Caribbean region for years. It seeks to alter the constitutional order of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which was freely chosen by its people. Its ultimate goal is not the false narrative of combating drug trafficking, but rather controlling Venezuela’s land and natural resources, as openly and unabashedly declared by President Trump and his Secretary of State.
This imperialist and fascist aggression seeks domination and aims to revive U.S. hegemonic ambitions over Our America, anchored in the outdated Monroe Doctrine. It also aims to intimidate and subjugate the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Cuba calls for an urgent response from the international community against this criminal attack on Venezuela, a peaceful nation that has never attacked the United States or any other country.
We call on governments, parliaments, social movements and peoples worldwide to condemn the United States’ military aggression against Venezuela, and to confront this act of state terrorism that threatens international peace and security, and seeks to impose a new doctrine of U.S. imperialist domination in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the world.
Mr. President,
Recent statements about the imperialist plans to steer Venezuela toward a supposed safe, adequate, and prudent transition are totally unacceptable. According to the United States’ vision of domination, this would be equivalent to establishing a puppet government that serves its predatory objectives, particularly unrestricted access to and exploitation of natural resources that rightfully belong to the Venezuelan people.
Only the people of Venezuela have the right to determine their own destiny, without external interference. If the U.S. government, which lacks any moral authority, truly cared about peace, freedom, and justice for Venezuelans, it would not have bombed this territory with such disregard for the lives, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of this nation.
I closing, I reaffirm our unconditional commitment to the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, while calling for action with the firmness and determination the current situation demands, always in defense of international law and of a future of peace for all the peoples of Our America and the world.
Thank you