Al Jazeera – Venezuela has called for the world to fight “hegemony” and “imperialist ideas” while Cuba called the United States “the greatest danger to international peace and security” during the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) virtual summit to mark 75 years of the global body.
In a pre-recorded speech on Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, recently accused by UN investigators of “crimes against humanity”, denounced “the world of hegemony, the world of imperialism” and insisted on the need to be “united” in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Venezuela supports a multipolar world, a renewed UN system, a system that knows how to enforce international law and protect the people of the world,” he said, condemning attacks by the US on the World Health Organization, without explicitly naming the country.
“This is not the time to insult, to threaten the WHO, it is now the time to unite in its favour,” he said.
“The world defeated fascism 75 years ago. The world will also win against those who seek hegemony, against imperialist ideas, and it will be able to defeat neo-fascism,” said the socialist leader, whose legitimacy in office is not recognised by the US and its allies.
In his speech at the UNGA, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla also criticised the US.
“On this 75th anniversary of the UN, multilateralism and international law are threatened by the largest global power,” he said.
Cuba’s top diplomat said the “irresponsible behaviour” of the US is the “greatest danger to international peace and security”.
“It seems that [the US] is at war with the planet… and its inhabitants,” Rodriguez Parrilla said, condemning the “economic, commercial and financial blockade” Washington has imposed on Cuba.
Relations between the US and both Venezuela and Cuba have deteriorated in recent years.
The US sanctioned Venezuela’s state oil company to pressure Maduro to resign, accusing him of rigging the 2018 re-election. Maduro’s government denies the charges.
President Donald Trump’s administration has also backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.
Maduro maintains that the Trump administration is seeking to remove him in a coup to seize control of the OPEC member’s large crude oil reserves.
Trump also reversed parts of his predecessor Barack Obama’s diplomatic re-engagement with Cuba, tightening rules on US citizens travelling there and restricting US companies’ dealings with enterprises controlled by the island nation’s military.
