In the wake of Winston Peters lame response to the US attack on Venezuela, its almost enough to make one yearn for the good old days when Murray McCully was our Foreign Minister. Here’s the gist of what Peters said: “New Zealand is concerned by and actively monitoring developments in Venezuela and expects all parties to act in accordance with international law.”
Hmm. Imagine someone had just bombed Wellington, kidnapped the Prime Minister and his wife, and vowed to “run” New Zealand and sell off its natural resources. Wouldn’t we be wanting the international community to say and do something a bit stronger than expressing its “concern” and telling both sides to remember to play nicely?
Here, by contrast is what countries led by people with a backbone have been saying. Here’s an excerpt from the joint statement by the leaders of Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay:
We express our deep concern and rejection of the military actions carried out unilaterally in the territory of Venezuela, which contravene fundamental principles of international law. Such actions set an extremely dangerous precedent for regional peace and security and for the rules-based international order, in addition to endangering the civilian population.”
Or this from Spain’s PM, Eduardo Sanchez:
“Spain did not recognize the Maduro regime. But neither will it recognize an intervention that violates international law and pushes the region toward a horizon of uncertainty and belligerence”
And from Peters’ counterpart in Norway, Espen Bartheide:
“International law is universal and binding for all states. The American intervention in Venezuela is not in accordance with international law. A peaceful transition to democratic rule is the only viable path in Venezuela. This requires inclusive political processes that respect the rights of the population.”
If New Zealand truly believes in the rules of international law, then sometimes, it needs to have the courage to defend them, even if mainly in words.
From here, to where?
The Norwegians were probably being unduly optimistic about the chances of a “peaceful transition to democratic rule.” Any residual opposition within Venezuela – whether by loyal armed forces or by the poor who remained the bedrock of support for the Maduro regime – will be crushed. (Trump has already been talking about the US enforcement of a “safe” transition of power)
No doubt, Trump will be emboldened by this easy conquest, and there will be little to restrain him from further interventions across Central America, South America and the Caribbean, wherever the mood takes him, and whenever his poll ratings are sagging. New Zealand has said nothing to deter him. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s dependent allies (such as Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, Javier Milei in Argentina) have been cheering him on.
In similar vein, we remained remarkably silent while US warplanes were repeatedly setting merchant vessels on fire in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing at least 115 civilian sailors in the process. Today, Venezuela. Tomorrow may well deliver the ultimate US goal, with the military conquest of Cuba. There is nothing to stop him.
Footnote One: The double standards involved are pretty plain. Recall the official outrage from New Zealand when Russia annexed Crimea and invaded Ukraine? Back then, we had no qualms about calling out Russia for its violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Yet when the Americans do exactly the same – with even less pretext – we can’t even mention them by name, let alone condemn their breach of Article Two of the UN Charter.
Ditto..it is a safe bet that if the Chinese military were blowing up merchant shipping in the South China Sea, bombing Taipei and sending in special forces to kidnap Taiwan’s leader…New Zealand wouldn’t be meekly asking both sides to show restrained respect for international law. We would be outraged. The nation would be told it was essential to stop China’s military adventurism, whatever the cost may be.
Footnote Two: That Peters’ line about how New Zealand expects all parties in the Venezuela situation to respect international law (even while one party is openly bragging about breaking it) has been our exact same line on Gaza as well. As if both sides in Gaza have been killing tens of thousands of civilians, blowing up their medical facilities, deliberately starving thousands of children and denying the civilian population access to adequate medical care, food, water and shelter.
This sort of thing keeps happening. Despite the alleged ‘ceasefire” declared in early October, Israel has recently revoked access to Gaza by dozens of recognised international aid agencies, including Medecins Sans Frontieres. Regardless…a few days ago, Winston Peters decided that New Zealand would not join the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in a joint statement calling for Israel to abide by the terms of the ceasefire, and to allow international aid to flow in, unimpeded.
Incredible. One can only assume that in the wake of the Bondi shootings, the New Zealand and Australian governments have both become afraid that any official criticism of the state of Israel – whether direct or implied – might be construed as antisemitism. Again, where is Murray McCully now that we need him?
Haunted, in the aftermath
One of the good things about a Christmas break is the chance to catch up on some of the tracks missed during the working year – like this slow burner by Annahstasia. Here, the residue of conflict from a past relationship fosters “a knocking sense of insecurity” about who was really the villain of the piece: