Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday strongly criticised what he described as the United States’ invasion of Venezuela, accusing the Centre of displaying subservience to Washington by not even naming US in its response.

The Chief Minister said voices of democrats across the world must rise against what he termed the “brutality and inhumanity” of the US action. 

Speaking at a press conference, Vijayan said, “From Vietnam to Iraq, from Syria to Libya, and across Latin America, the world bears the scars of this bloodshed. To protect its economic and political interests, the US has killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people.”

Warning of the wider implications, he said what happened in Venezuela today could happen in any other country tomorrow, calling it a deeply worrying trend.

Drawing a parallel, the Chief Minister recalled that after the Pahalgam terror attack by Pakistani militants, India had sought international support and sent delegations abroad to rally global opinion. He said the people of Venezuela today deserved the same international solidarity.

Instead of treating the issue with seriousness, Vijayan alleged that the Centre was trivialising it and rushing to demonstrate loyalty to the US. He pointed out that the Ministry of External Affairs’ statement on the issue did not even mention the name of the United States.

Vijayan further accused the Centre of failing to even register a protest against the US President, who, he said, makes statements every day that insult India and its sovereignty.

He also targeted the Congress, saying the party, which claims to be the country’s principal opposition, was following the same line. Referring to repeated threats by Trump to raise import tariffs, Vijayan said it was ironic that the Congress government in Telangana was ready to name a road after Trump even as he continued to threaten India with higher tariffs.