Twelve countries in the region activate the TIAR, joint defense pact against Venezuela

The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) is a 1947 agreement that subscribes to the commitment of mutual defense between American nations to armed attacks. Among the signatory countries are Colombia and the United States.

Twelve countries of the American continent obtained on Wednesday a first step in the activation of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) when considering that the “crisis” in Venezuela represents “a clear threat to peace and security” in the region.

The twelve nations that supported the TIAR (a kind of American NATO that opens the door to military intervention) are: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, USA, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Venezuela, the latter represented by the delegates of the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

This is a new movement of Guaidó, recognized as interim president for more than fifty nations, in his pressure chess against the head of the State of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.

In a document signed by these twelve countries, it was argued that “the crisis in Venezuela has a destabilizing effect, representing a clear threat to peace and security” in the region and, therefore, the principle of mutual defense proclaimed in the TIAR.

Specifically, what those twelve countries decided today was to convene a meeting of the foreign ministers of the signatory nations of the TIAR so that, in the second half of this September, on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York , decide what measures to take with respect to Venezuela.

Then, decide what to decide how to pressure Maduro and determine if they break diplomatic and economic relations, or if they will go further and decree a blockade of naval and air transport.

What is the TIAR?

It is a multilateral agreement that contemplates foreign military cooperation in case there is an attack against a member country of the pact, as it is considered an attack against all. In this way, deputies and opposition leaders argue that a return to the TIAR provides a legal framework for a possible foreign intervention to evict Maduro.

The TIAR was founded in 1947 and responded was signed by 21 nations across the continent, although some countries were abandoned in recent times after the instances in which it was not applied, then losing its legitimacy.

The main article of the TIAR is 3.1 which states that “an armed attack by any State against an American country, shall be determined as an attack against all American countries, and consequently, each of the Contracting Parties undertakes to help make against the attack in exercise of the immanent right of legitimate individual or collective defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations “.

Venezuela withdrew from that treaty in 2013 at the initiative of the late Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez; But, in July of this year, the Parliament led by Guaidó determined the country’s return to that defense pact, a decision that Maduro’s Executive does not recognize.

With information from EFE.