(Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2019) Montevideo will leave the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR, also known as Rio Pact) due to an "obvious attempt" by the other signatories to use it to threaten Venezuela with use of force, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa told Sputnik on Tuesday.
TIAR, a regional defense treaty signed in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, was invoked by the United States and its allies earlier in September to facilitate further collective action to confront the alleged threat posed by Nicholas Maduro's government. On Monday, TIAR signatories agreed to introduce sanctions against entities and individuals linked to the Venezuelan president. Only Uruguay voted against the resolution, while Trinidad and Tobago abstained.
"Uruguay will withdraw from the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance because there is an obvious attempt, there is a clear intention [by the other signatories] to violate the international law. The international law does not allow and prohibits threats, the use of force and unilateral sanctions," Nin Novoa said.
Montevideo earlier threatened to leave the pact if military action against Caracas was approved. Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo, however, told reporters after the Rio Pact meeting that "there was no discussion about military intervention in Venezuela" during the talks.
Venezuela faces the US-led effort to oust the government of Maduro and replace him with self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido. The United States has imposed comprehensive sanctions against Venezuela and frozen some of the country's assets.
