US in no position to dictate rules to sovereign states: Analyst

The United States is in no position to dictate its rules to sovereign states and behave like a police force in Latin America and elsewhere in the world, says Carlos Marteniz, a London-based activist and political analyst.

In an interview with Press TV on Monday, the commentator said the White House and its allies continue to violate the international law, acting as rogue states when it comes to dealing with sovereign nations.

“The essential message from the US is that the international law doesn’t apply to it. The US talks constantly about being the defender of the rules based on international order, but it seems to defy that order in a situation in which the US is in charge and other countries have to go along with it,” Marteniz said.

“Actually the rules based on order is the United Nations, i.e. the system of international law built on the foundations of the UN Charter.”

“And in connection with the actual rules based on the international order, we have to say that the US and its allies act as rogue states.”

Commenting on the extradition to the US of Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman and a close ally to President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, Marteniz said “his extradition and his original detention run totally counter to international law.”

“Saab is a credited diplomat. He is an envoy of the Venezuelan government. And under the Geneva Convention, he has diplomatic impunity; he cannot be arrested and he cannot be extradited.”

Saab was arrested in June 2020 when his plane stopped in Cape Verde to refuel. He was extradited to the US on Saturday. A US Justice Department official confirmed the extradition and said he is expected to make his initial court appearance on Monday in the Southern District of Florida. Venezuela’s Ministry of Communications said the extradition amounts to “kidnapping.”

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Caracas had intended to name Saab a member of the delegation to the talks with the Venezuelan opposition in Mexico City.

Marteniz also criticized the constant meddling by the US in bilateral trade dealings between Iran and Venezuela, stressing that by doing so Washington had encroached upon international norms.

“Iran and Venezuela are independent sovereign nations that have the right to do bilateral trade between themselves. The US sanctions Iran, the US sanctions Venezuela, but the bilateral trade has nothing to do with the US; it is not the US business. It is an illegality of the situation.” The commentator said the sanctions “are applied unilaterally.”

The United States has imposed several rounds of sanctions against Venezuela, aimed at ousting President Maduro and replacing him with Washington’s favored opposition figure Juan Guaido. The sanctions, which include illegal confiscation of Venezuelan assets abroad and an economic blockade, have caused enormous suffering to millions of people in the country. 

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Elsewhere in his remarks, Marteniz said the US had resorted to all illegal means to destabilize the elected Venezuelan administrations in recent decades.

“Well, the US has been involved in trying to overthrow the elected Venezuelan government for the last 20+ years since election of Hugo Chavez in 1999.” The analyst argued that there was “no one superpower that gives itself the right to act as world policeman as the US does.” He concluded by saying that Venezuela has maintained cordial relations with sovereign nations such as Iran, Russia, China and Cuba despite the fury and anger coming out of the White House.

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www.presstv.co.uk