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The U.S. on Saturday welcomed Venezuela’s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and urged other member states to leave the Rome Statute, accusing the tribunal of political bias, selective enforcement and overreach.
“The U.S. welcomes the decision by interim President Delcy Rodriguez and Venezuela to withdraw from the ICC,” the State Department said in a post on X.
The department also praised Venezuela’s new government for cooperating with Washington’s efforts to “dismantle” the Hague-based court.
The State Department accused the ICC of failing to produce results from its investigation into former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
It said the court had instead directed resources toward countries with “competent, independent judicial systems” that had not accepted ICC jurisdiction.
“This is blatant overreach, political bias and selective enforcement,” the department said, describing the court as neither credible nor legitimate.
The department said Maduro was facing justice in a U.S. court for crimes he allegedly committed, crediting President Donald Trump and U.S. service members.
“It is time to dismantle the ICC,” it added, calling on all member states to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court.
Venezuela formally notified U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday of its decision to begin permanently withdrawing from the ICC.
Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia accused the court of geographical bias against African and Latin American countries.
He also said the ICC had been used to undermine the sovereignty of countries in the Global South.
Venezuela’s National Assembly had previously repealed the country’s ratification of the Rome Statute, clearing the way for the withdrawal.
The ICC formally opened an investigation in 2021 into alleged crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela.
The U.S. said the court had failed to deliver results from that investigation while pursuing cases involving countries that had not accepted its jurisdiction.
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