LATIN AMERICAN nations rejected the European Parliament’s interference in Venezuela’s affairs yesterday after MEPs demanded the release of opposition extremists.

The 11-member Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (Alba) and Venezuela’s MPs issued separate statements in response to the outrageous EU attack.

Foreign ministers from Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Grenada and other Alba nations around the Caribbean had gathered in Caracas for an extraordinary meeting of the bloc’s political council.

The European Parliament motion, passed by 501 votes to 94 against with 73 abstentions, claimed that some 2,000 people were imprisoned, under house arrest or on probation for “political reasons” and called for their release.

It specifically named Popular Will party leader Leopoldo Lopez, who has been jailed for almost 14 years for inciting 2014’s year-long campaign of regime-change violence that left 43 people dead.

The motion also claimed there was a “serious humanitarian crisis” in Venezuela due to shortages of food and medicine, without addressing the economic war being waged against the country by the US and food distribution firms.

Instead, the motion blamed President Nicolas Maduro’s administration for “inefficient governance,” and claimed criminals operate with “complete impunity.”

Alba responded: “We remain alert to any initiative that threatens the constitutional stability of our sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and we will act accordingly in defence of the peace and tranquility of our region.”

The alliance also condemned moves by Organisation of American States (OAS) secretary-general Luis Almagro to invoke the Washington-based body’s Democratic Charter against Caracas, which could lead to Venezuela’s suspension.

Venezuelan MPs of the pro-government Homeland Bloc also hit back at the European Parliament’s “interference” in their country, insisting that Venezuela’s constitution and laws were the business of its people, not of any foreign institution.

It reaffirmed “the national sovereignty and independence that we won through defeating the European colonies 200 years ago.”

The MPs said the true aim of the European Parliament’s declaration of a crisis in Venezuela was justify military intervention to “destroy the Bolivarian revolution and sequester the natural resources that are the exclusive inheritance of the Venezuelan people.”