Venezuelan Ambassador: Latin America No Backyard to US

Venezuelan Ambassador to Tehran Amenhotep Zambrano called on the American officials to respect Latin American nations and governments, reiterating that the US has lost its influence in the Latin America region, AVA Diplomatic reports.

“The Latin American countries have not been the US backyard for 15 years now and the US has lost its previous influence in the region,” Zambrano said, addressing a press conference of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) ambassadors in Tehran on Wednesday.

He reiterated that all the new governments in the Latin America have been chosen by people and are popular.

“The US does not have the power to order the Latin American countries due to the existing weaknesses of its government,” the Venezuelan envoy said.

He said that the ALBA countries have all maintained good unity, and urged the US to respect the Latin American nations and governments.

The Venezuelan ambassador said that the US has taken many hostile actions to harm Iran and Islam, but to no avail.

In March, a Venezuelan official announced that more than 1 million signatures have been collected by supporters of the Venezuelan government to call for an “end to the US aggression” against the South American country.

“We are going to gather 10 million signatures and hand them to the US President,” said Jorge Rodriguez, Mayor of Caracas, who leads the campaign.

Rodriguez also said that the Venezuelan government had received more than 2.6 million supporting messages on Twitter.

President Nicolas Maduro was the first one to sign before the supporters began gathering signatures across Venezuela.

Several Latin American organizations including the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) and ALBA had condemned the US measure.

The signature campaign is to last till April 9, a day before the opening of the Summit of the Americas in Panama, where Obama is set to meet with all the region’s presidents, including Maduro.

In March, US President Barack Obama signed a decree introducing a state of emergency against Venezuela, saying that the situation in the country poses a serious danger to the United States. Obama also imposed sanctions against seven senior Venezuelan officials.

Also in March, Cuban Leader Raul Castro announced a firm and permanent solidarity with the Venezuelan government in the face of sanctions, imposed by the United States.

“Our country’s position remains unchanged. I emphasize the strong solidarity with the Cuban revolution, the Bolivarian revolution, with President Nicolas Maduro and the civil-military alliance, which he runs. I underline the absolute loyalty to the memory of Hugo Chavez, the best friend of the Cuban Revolution,” Castro said in a statement.

Castro said that Cuba should further oppose US attempts to threaten and isolate Venezuela, as well as achieve the ending of the economic embargo against Cuba itself.

“The US relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean has been characterized by the Monroe Doctrine and the principle of domination and hegemony over our countries,” Castro said. According to him, the US has tried all possible ways to destabilize the situation in Venezuela, the purpose of which was to control the largest oil reserves in the world, located in the country.