A protest was held under tight security on Monday outside the US Embassy in Nicosia, organised by the Peace Council of Cyprus with participation from AKEL, the Communist Initiative of Cyprus, and PEO, aimed at showing solidarity with the people of Venezuela.
Demonstrators carried banners defending international law and sovereignty and chanted slogans such as “Hands off Venezuela” and “Peoples of the world, unite against imperialism.”
International piracy
The President of the Peace Council of Cyprus, Tasos Kostea, said in a speech: “We are demonstrating here today, outside the American Embassy, and raising our voices against yet another completely unacceptable development, a blatant violation of international law, legality, and international security.”
“The US military intervention in Venezuela and the abduction of the country’s sitting President, Nicolás Maduro, under the pretext of combating drugs, is an act of international piracy and sets a dangerous precedent,” he said.
Kostea added that international law, international conventions, and the United Nations Charter were achieved through the struggles of peoples, on the ruins of two world wars, colonialism, social exploitation, and fascism.
He noted that the protest was held outside the US Embassy for obvious reasons, but also because the role of the US in Cyprus was not very different.
Foreign intervention in Cyprus
“The US financed the destabilisation of our political system before 1974. US agents organised and supported the junta coup in Greece in 1967, and it is beyond obvious that they did the same with the coup and invasion in Cyprus,” he said.
He also stated that foreign interventions in the internal affairs of sovereign states in Latin America and worldwide have originated and continue to originate from the US Government and its diplomatic missions.
Academic Giorgos Charalambous, in his own address, said: “The abduction of the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, by the US is not merely an episode of international tension. It constitutes a direct challenge to the very framework of international law and the culmination of the insecurity that such direct action provokes.”
No one truly safe
“The issue is not whether we agree or disagree with Maduro. The issue is whether we accept a world in which the powerful kidnap, overthrow, and punish at will. If we accept this world, then tomorrow no state, no people, will be truly safe - especially small nations such as Cyprus,” he said.
He also stated that defending international law, sovereignty, and peace is not an ideological luxury, but a condition of survival, and in this struggle, silence is not neutrality - it is complicity.
The General Secretary of AKEL, Stefanos Stefanou, in his address at the event, said: “What brings all of us here to this protest against the blatant and unashamed US intervention in Venezuela and the abduction of the country’s elected President Nicolás Maduro? It is our commitment to the principles of international law. It is our dedication to the UN Charter, which forms the fundamental pillar, framework, and standard of legality in the international legal order.”
“It is our determination to continue demanding and fighting for the principles and procedures of international law to remain the compass and benchmark for the actions and policies of all states, without exception. That is the message we are sending from this protest. That is what we seek, that is why we fight and claim. Without half-measures or watered-down words. We categorically declare that no excuse, claim, or justification can legitimise any illegality,” he added.
For this reason, Stefanou continued, “we categorically reject the view that US intervention is justified because it was against a dictator or supposedly to prevent drug trafficking to the US.”
Oil vs democracy
“It is more than clear that the US Government acted with the aim of exploiting Venezuela’s rich oil reserves and not to restore democracy in the country. If that had been the aim - which still would not justify the intervention - the US would have had to intervene in a number of other countries where the regime is authoritarian and tyrannical but which are close allies of the US,” he said.
It is well known, Stefanou said, that the US has always sought to cover up illegal interventions and invasions it has carried out across the globe with fabricated news.
He also noted that even the New York Times - which played a central role in spreading false reports about weapons of mass destruction allegedly held by Saddam Hussein’s regime during the US invasion of Iraq - criticises Trump in an editorial for actions undermining international legality.
EU hypocrisy
In this context, Stefanou said, the hypocritical stance of the European Union cannot go unnoticed.
“The European leadership avoids naming the blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter. It limits itself to vague and meaningless statements. In this matter, the EU leadership demonstrates that it does not base itself on principles but applies a policy of double standards. The sensitivities of European leadership are selective and case-specific, further undermining the already weakened credibility of the European Union,” he added.
He also said that, in response to the illegality and aggression of the US against Venezuela, the Government of the Republic of Cyprus must take a clear stance condemning the actions of the Trump administration and demanding full respect for the UN Charter and international law.
“It is the least a government of a country like Cyprus - which is a victim of invasion, occupation, and violation of its territorial integrity - can demand,” he said.
“The Cyprus problem is living proof of what it means to violate territorial integrity, sovereignty, and UN resolutions. The solution to our problem relies on international law, the UN Charter, and relevant Security Council resolutions. If the logic that power prevails over law dominates internationally, the prospects for resolving the Cyprus issue are seriously undermined, with the risk of solutions being imposed that would go against the interests of our people and the future of our country. In an environment of international illegality, peace, reunification, and justice recede,” he said.
Cherry-picking international law
For this reason, Stefanou said, defending international law is neither selective nor circumstantial.
“It is a condition of survival for peoples, especially the small and weak. It is a prerequisite for a just and sustainable solution to the Cyprus issue and for a world where law prevails over power. This is what we support, and this is why we will continue to struggle, expressing our solidarity with the people of Venezuela against the threats and manoeuvres of the US. Expressing our solidarity with every struggling people and every struggling country against imperialism, for the dignity and rights of humans and peoples,” he said.
Minr incident
After the conclusion of the AKEL General Secretary’s speech and the peaceful protest, a minor incident occurred when a young man, who said he was from Venezuela, approached a woman participating in the protest who was holding a Venezuelan flag and wearing a jacket with the country’s insignia. After initially speaking to each other in a heated tone in their language, the young man turned to the participants and said that he was against Maduro. Following the intervention of members and officials of AKEL and the Peace Council of Cyprus, no further incidents occurred.