Colombia's statement at a UN Security Council meeting on Venezuela

Here is an excerpt of the remarks by Ambassador Zalabata Torres, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations, at the UN Security Council emergency meeting on Venezuela in New York on Monday:

These actions that we have seen remind us of the worst interference in our area in the past, in our zone of peace.

It's also important to understand the dimension of this situation for international peace and security beyond our region, particularly when a permanent member of the Security Council takes the decision to use force and assume control unilaterally of another sovereign state with the aim, amongst other things, of taking its natural and strategic resources.

This is very worrisome for the international community, the international order that was established after the Second World War and flagrantly violates international law and is in clear contradiction with the United Nations Charter and the very goal for which this Council was created.

Venezuela deserves to live in peace, in democracy, prosperity and dignity with a government that is defined in sovereignty by no one else than the Venezuelan people and their institutions.