The eight-nation Hague Group was formed in January by the Progressive International to mobilize progressive forces around the world and uphold international law. (Progressive International)

Caracas, July 16, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan government has fully backed the Emergency Conference of The Hague Group held in Bogotá on July 15-16 to take collective measures to stop Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.

In a letter sent on Tuesday to the 30-nation ministerial meeting, President Nicolás Maduro called the gathering “an essential moral and political response” to Israel’s “horrors” in Gaza. “This genocide did not begin 21 months ago; it dates back to 1948 with the Zionist occupation and forced expulsion of the Palestinian people from their land.”

Maduro likewise recalled that the US-backed assault on the Palestinian people has been sustained by the “constant flow of arms, money, surveillance technologies and diplomatic protection from the Western powers,” aiming to create a military enclave in West Asia. 

The Venezuelan leader, one of the earliest voices in Latin America calling for international action to halt the genocide in Gaza, criticized the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their “shameful complacency,” stating that they have been “colonized by Western interests.”

“International justice, today, has been hijacked,” the communique emphasized. “Venezuela denounces this institutional colonization and selective use of law […] to punish Global South countries while granting impunity to those who commit crimes against humanity.”

The Emergency Conference, jointly convened by Colombia and South Africa as co-chairs of The Hague Group, united 30 nations from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America in the Colombian capital.

In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, 12 signatory countries agreed to enforce six coordinated diplomatic, legal and economic measures to pressure Israel into ending its genocidal war. The steps include preventing the transfer and provision of arms, munitions, fuel, and related military equipment to Israel. Additionally, they committed to conducting a comprehensive review of all public contracts to prevent state institutions from legitimizing Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

Signatories also pledged to ensure accountability for Israel’s serious crimes through independent investigations and prosecutions, and to advocate for the application of universal jurisdiction to secure justice for victims.

The resolution set a September 2025 deadline for all states to adhere in line with the 12-month timeframe mandated by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/ES-10/24 established last year.

Although Caracas was not a signatory to the resolution, it is expected to join alongside the other nations that participated in the Bogotá conference. 

The Maduro government has long advocated for an arms and oil embargo against Israel. Venezuela does not export oil to Israel and has not had diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv since 2009, when former president Hugo Chávez decried the latest deadly assault on Gaza.

Caracas has also supported South Africa’s effort to bring genocide charges against Israel before the International Court of Justice. More recently, Maduro proposed a Global Summit for Peace to demand the right of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland and a sovereign state with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as Israel’s denuclearization. 

Speaking at the Bogotá conference on Tuesday, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yván Gil reiterated Venezuela’s endorsement of a Palestinian State and its people’s right to “historical reparations” as an integral part of a just and peaceful resolution.

Other high-profile pro-Palestine organizations and activists in attendance at the conference included the Hind Rajab Foundation, the Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad H. Mansour, and UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese. 

Albanese called the Hague Group conference the “most significant political development of the last 20 months” and urged all states to break ties with Israel. 

The human rights expert recently delivered a report in Geneva denouncing several US corporations, among them tech giants Microsoft, Alphabet Inc. and Amazon, that are aiding Israel’s occupation and profiting from an “economy of genocide.” 

Washington has issued sanctions and a visa ban against Albanese, while the US State Department told Drop Site on Tuesday that it strongly opposed the Hague Group’s meeting in Colombia for its “radical anti-Western agendas.”

For his part, Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the summit’s resolution as a historic milestone. “These measures demonstrate that we will no longer accept international law being treated as optional, nor Palestinian lives as expendable.” 

Last year, Petro severed diplomatic ties with Israel and announced a coal embargo. The move was widely praised internationally, as Colombia was the largest coal exporter to Tel Aviv. This action sparked increased calls for a multilevel embargo on energy exports that sustain Israel’s occupation and war crimes in Palestine.

According to reports, Israel’s actions in Gaza since October 2023 have resulted in over 58,000 confirmed deaths, though experts widely believe the true toll is significantly higher. The Palestinian population in the small enclave is currently being targeted with mass starvation as Tel Aviv has blocked all humanitarian aid efforts. 

Edited by Cira Pascual Marquina in Caracas.