by Lady Michelle-Jennifer Santos, Chief Visionary Founder & Owner

August 7, 2013 (TSR) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro lauded an “historic” meeting between Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elías Jaua, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the Secretary-General of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), Carlos “Chacho” Alvarez.

President Maduro commented on the occasion via his twitter account, @NicolasMaduro, where he shared an image taken during meeting and wrote: “Our Foreign Minister Elías Jaua with the Sec. Gen. of the UN and Mercosur in New York. The Revolution making history.”

The meeting was held in New York and allowed the regional organization to issue a complaint regarding the espionage policy of the United States.

During a press conference, Jaua said: “Our concern and our warning regarding the grave implications of these illegal proceedings developed by the U.S. Government, have to do with the political stability of countries and the mutual trust that is necessary in the international community.”

Venezuela explains its side

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua condemned the U.S. government’s spying program and said he considered “serious” the fact that this measure has been extended beyond U.S. borders.

In an interview with the TV station Russia Today, Jaua said these activities “are totally abhorrent and outrageous, especially when the attempt is made to justify them based on domestic U.S. law.

While questionable ethically, this cannot be exercised beyond its borders. Therein lies the seriousness of the matter.”

He explained that “in our countries, to enter the home of a suspect for any crime, you need an order by a judge, but Washington can do it without anyone’s permission and violate one of the most sacred things for human beings, which is their privacy.”

The U.S. government’s global spying program was revealed by former CIA intelligence analyst Edward Snowden.

Once it came to light and the U.S. began persecuting Snowden, he sought asylum in several countries including Venezuela, which agreed, but Snowden’s inability to travel to Latin America led him to seek temporary asylum in Russia.

Jaua said Venezuela’s offer of asylum for Snowden still stands, for the country “is obliged to offer humanitarian shelter to someone who obviously is accused and persecuted by political events.”

Regarding pressure from the U.S., Jaua said “we cannot extradite someone who is not in the country. Moreover, we cannot extradite him because he has requested and has been granted the right to asylum.”

He described Washington’s stance toward Caracas “cynnical” and mentioned regarding the request for his extradition that “although the convicted and confessed terrorist Luis Posada Carriles was tried and sentenced by the Venezuelan judicial system, he is protected in the U.S., which ignores our repeated requests.”

Jaua went on to say that Latin America is united in rejecting U.S. spying and condemning the consequences  it has brought, as in the case of the aggression against Bolivian President Evo Morales, who denied transit through several countries in Europe because of suspicions that Snowden was aboard his airplane.

Jaua recalled that the U.S. has not officially recognized the legitimacy of Venezuela’s last election, the results of which gave a victory to President Nicolás Maduro, and that an agenda of meddling by Washington in Venezuela has been revealed, particularly by Samantha Power, a candidate for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

“We agreed to have diplomatic relations at the highest level, based on mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs…  Until there is a clear understanding that the U.S. government will not allow any more interference in Venezuela issues, we can hardly achieve the goal of restoring diplomatic relations,” he said.

The interview with Russia Today in Spanish is online here

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