Venezuela

Venezuela is a state party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). Venezuela supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

During the March 2026 session of the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on lethal autonomous weapons systems (GGE on LAWS), Venezuela stated it ‘takes a positive view of the text that presented to us, a very solid foundation and an opportunity to move forward towards balanced, constructive, and focused negotiations.’ ^[1]Statement by Venezuela, CCW GGE on LAWS, 2 March 2026, … Continue reading

In December 2025, Venezuela co-sponsored UN General Assembly Resolution 80/57 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Mindful of the challenges and concerns autonomous weapons systems raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives, Resolution 80/57 stresses the urgent need for the CCW to address the challenges and concerns posed by autonomous weapons systems, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties of the CCW to “work towards completing the set of elements for an instrument being developed within the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts, with a view to future negotiation.”

At the 79th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2024, Venezuela did not record a vote for Draft Resolution L.77 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Draft Resolution L.77 raises concerns about the ‘negative consequences and impact of autonomous weapon systems on global security and regional and international stability’ and stresses ‘the importance of the role of humans in the use of force to ensure responsibility and accountability and for States to comply with international law.’ It also notes ‘the repeated calls by the Secretary-General to urgently conclude negotiations of a legally binding instrument with prohibitions and regulations for autonomous weapons systems, in line with a two-tier approach.’ The Resolution will convene open informal consultations in 2025 over two days in New York, ‘to consider the report of the Secretary-General in full complementarity with and in a manner that supports the fulfilment of the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts in order to further the international community’s understanding of the issues involved by discussing the full range of views received, including proposals and relevant aspects raised in the report that may thus far not have been discussed in detail in the Group of Governmental Experts.’

At the 78th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting in 2023, Venezuela stated that ‘our country highlights the risks of autonomous weapons systems, including their ethical, legal and security implications. We advocate for the adoption of a legally binding instrument that would prohibit their use and regulates the use of semi-autonomous weapons.’^[2]Statement by Venezuela, UNGA First Committee, 9 October 2023. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com23/statements/9Oct_Venezuela_SP.pdf, (Translated with … Continue reading

Venezuela is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which also supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument. In a statement delivered by Venezuela on behalf of the NAM at the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS) in September 2021, the NAM said that ‘there is an urgent need to pursue a legally binding instrument under the Convention that will contain prohibitions and regulations for addressing the humanitarian and international security challenges posed by emerging technologies in the area of LAWS.’^[3]Statement by the Non-Aligned Movement, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 28 September 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-28-09-2021-AM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link … Continue reading

In an individual statement at the same meeting of the GGE on LAWS, Venezuela stated that ‘weapons reviews are not sufficient to meet the concerns of States parties on satisfying IHL and certain aspects of this section, it would require rather that we move towards a negotiation for a legally binding instrument.’^[4]Statement by Venezuela, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 30 September 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-30-09-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading