Hamas’ attack against humanity: Castrochavist dictatorships repeat the fallacy of blaming the victims for their crimes

(Interamerican Institute for Democracy) The atrocities committed by Hamas on the 7th of October in Israel’s territory are an attack against humanity. Any backing, pseudo-neutrality, or alibi that pretends to justify it is complicity and support for crimes against humanity. As part of the terrorism inflicted, 21st Century Socialism’s dictatorships, or Castrochavism, comprised by Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua, along with para-dictatorial governments, repeat the fallacy of blaming the victims for their crimes.

Hamas is an organization identified as “terrorist” by the United States, the European Union, Israel, Japan, Canada, Australia, the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, Egypt, Paraguay, Costa Rica. Prior to the 7th of October, “human rights’ organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have accused Hamas to have committed War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity against Israeli as well as Palestinian populations, as well as torture, assassinations, and kidnappings against the Palestinian population.” In the aftermath of the 7th of October, ample proof has been corroborated.

A Crime Against Humanity is defined as “any of the atrocities or crimes of an inhuman nature that are a part of a generalized or systematic attack against a civilian population, committed in order to apply the policies of a State or organization.”

When Hugo Chavez becomes the President of Venezuela in 1999, he rescues Cuba’s dictatorship and sets in motion the Bolivarian Populist Movement, now-a-days called 21st Century Socialism or Castrochavism, that has expanded the criminal system of the Cuban dictatorship into Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Ecuador under Correa’s regime. The “Para-Dictatorial Governments” are those installed and supported by Castrochavism in countries with democracy. These governments are today that of Fernandez/Kirchner in Argentina, Lopez Obrador in Mexico, Petro in Colombia, Boric in Chile, and Lula da Silva in Brazil.

Twenty-First Century Socialism’s dictatorships wield power in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua, exerting “State terrorism” proven with the practice of judicialized political persecution, the existence of hundreds of political prisoners, millions of exiles, the practice of torture and the perpetration of Crimes Against Humanity. In the international arena, their antiimperialist discourse is widespread and they support and are integrated to dictatorships from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and others.

Cuba’s dictatorship is, in and by itself, a terrorist organization that in nearly 65 years of existence has attacked with armed, direct, or indirect, violence throughout the world. Ranging from tricontinental operations to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the Cuban dictatorship participates in operations of criminal violence that have included its participation in the Yom Kippur war against Israel and their granting protection to terrorists.

Cuban dictatorship’s position in regard to the recent Hamas attack against humanity on 7 October, has been expressed through a communique justifying Hamas’ crimes as “a consequence of 75 years of permanent violation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and of the aggressive and expansionist policies of Israel.” This position is also the line for satellite dictatorships and governments to follow, so that with pretexts an alibies they can continue backing the criminal terrorist’s atrocities.

Dictator Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela “justified the terrorist attacks against Israel and asked for the rights of Palestine to be reestablished.” From Nicaragua, through a communique titled “Enough Already of Victims and Pain” Ortega’s dictatorship declared itself “always solidary with the Palestinian cause.” In Bolivia, the Dictator-In-Chief Evo Morales “backed the terrorist attack” while Arce’s regime issued a communique in which “he expresses his profound concern for the events that occurred in the Gaza strip between Israel and Palestine” thus assessing the criminal attack as a confrontation.

The Para-Dictatorial governments of; Lopez Obrador from Mexico declared “We do not want to take sides, we want to be a factor in the search for a peaceful solution” offending the people’s understanding because “not taking sides” when facing crimes against humanity is to be a part of them; Gustavo Petro in a series of publications in social media networks has compared the recent attacks of Israel in Gaza to concentration camps of Hitler’s nazi regime” committing more crimes from Colombia’s presidency; Boric from Chile who “condemns equally Hamas and Israel’s attacks” deliberately ignoring that Hamas is who committed the attack; Argentina who has 7 Argentinean citizens dead and 15 disappeared in the attack and that in this case departed his neighbors’ position and declared “The Argentine government condemns Hamas’ terrorist actions against Israel’s territory.”

In each and every action involving State-terrorism and international terrorism, Castrochavist dictatorships blame the victims for their criminal acts and in the case of Hamas’ attack against humanity they are only repeating this narrative because they are part of the system that international terrorism is.

*Attorney & Political Scientist. Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.

Translation from Spanish by Edgar L. Terrazas