“Who would San Martin support?” Volodimir Zelensky said before the OAS sessions.
Hours before seven Russian shells hit residential buildings in Zaporiya, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky,spoke at a meeting prior to the start of the sessions of the Organization of American States (OAS) and invoked José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar to obtain more support from the American states.
In his recorded message in English, Zelensky began: “Look from your point of view, in terms of what your great American continent has experienced; from the point of view of the struggle for the independence of your people, in terms of simple justice that means so much to their countries and peoples; and in terms of what their national heroes fought for.
“Go back to the pages of the history of the American continent and ask yourself: ‘On whose side would Simón Bolívar be in this war that Russia unleashed against Ukraine? Who would José de San Martín have supported? With whom would Miguel Hidalgo have sympathized?‘ Zelensky launched.
While being listened to by the heads of delegation with the permanent observers, prior to the start of the assembly, the head of state of the invaded country added: “I think they would not support someone who only plunders a smaller country like a typical colonizer.”
“I think they would not support someone who constantly lies and does not call a war a war, hiding behind the definition of a special military operation,” Zelensky said. And he added about the Latin American heroes: “I think they would not sympathize with someone who deliberately brings different countries to the brink of starvation, through a food crisis.”
Also, about Vladimir PutinHe said: “It drives people into poverty through price and energy crises, both of which are man-made and wage war against civilians.”
Zelensky contacted the OAS meeting in Lima, Peru, where he was grateful for the opportunity to speak. Although he asked them to maintain support for Ukraine and increase “at various levels”, the first of them in international organizations, “especially the UN General Assembly”, where he urged them to vote in favor of the initiatives promoted by Ukraine.
In turn, in view of commercialization, Zelensky exclaimed: “Do not associate with those who will inevitably be condemned by the international community.” And he asked “ordinary people” to spread “the truths of the war and the deaths caused by Russian aggression.”
Before concluding his speech, he said goodbye proclaiming “Viva la libertad” in Spanish.
Zelensky’s request to the international community
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky on Thursday called on the international community not to be blackmailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threats, expressing doubt that he could survive a nuclear war.
Zelenski said that in his opinion Putin “clearly understands” that after using nuclear weapons he would not be able to “preserve his life”, as he said in a speech for the Lowy Institute, a think thank Australian based in Sydney.
The Ukrainian president called for a firm response to Moscow’s annexation of the four Ukrainian regions under partial Russian control, since it is “another crime against international law.”
DB