President Sheinbaum on Tuesday called on the United States to guarantee that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro receives a fair trial in New York, while reiterating her belief that the military operation that captured him in Caracas on Jan. 3 was illegal and should never have taken place.
“What we ask for is a fair trial; that’s what we must demand, for everyone and under any circumstances, and in this particular case, there must be … justice,” she said.
Maduro, accused of drug trafficking, pleaded not guilty on Monday in his first appearance in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn, New York, and claimed he had been kidnapped at his home by U.S. military personnel.
Speaking during her daily press conference on Tuesday morning, Sheinbaum again rebuked the U.S. military operation and said Mexico is fiercely opposed to “a powerful nation forcibly removing (another country’s) president.”
“We can never agree with one country invading another, especially outside the framework of the United Nations Charter, even if he were guilty of the charges against him,” she said, adding that “it’s a matter of the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people, just as it is for Mexico or any other country in the world.”
Sheinbaum also addressed opponents of the Maduro regime.
“President Maduro’s position is very interesting (…) especially considering all the propaganda against Venezuela or those who disagree with the Maduro regime or Chavismo in Venezuela … that’s one thing; but it is very different from being in favor of an intervention,” Sheinbaum said. “That cannot be approved, regardless of one’s opinion.”
Chavismo is the left-wing populist political ideology, named after former President Hugo Chávez, which Maduro has professed since taking over for Chávez in 2013. It blends socialism, anti-imperialism and Bolivarianism to promote social welfare, state control of key industries (particularly oil) and greater Latin American integration.
Sheinbaum reiterated her belief that the U.S. will not intervene militarily in Mexico, while insisting that the U.S. “do more” to combat organized crime, especially after drugs reach groups in the U.S. that distribute, sell and launder money. She also criticized the U.S. for not seriously addressing arms trafficking and not attending to the root causes of drug use among young Americans.
With reports from Reforma, El Economista and El Financiero
