What drove Venezuela’s decision to leave the ICC?

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia announced on Friday that the country had formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC). The instructions came from Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, said Plasencia on X, calling the decision “firm and irrevocable”.He said the ICC had shown a “demonstrated geographical bias” by disproportionately targeting countries in Africa and Latin America.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4World Bank estimates Venezuela earthquakes caused $19.6bn in damagelist 2 of 4US judge sets 2027 trial date for Venezuela’s Madurolist 3 of 4What’s next for Venezuela’s path to recovery from devastating earthquakes?list 4 of 4Venezuela to exit International Criminal Court, accusing it of ‘bias’end of listThe United States quickly welcomed the decision, praising Rodriguez for joining “American-led efforts to dismantle the corrupt and worthless ICC”. The US Department of State said in a statement that the court had spent years “investigating” former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro “with no result” and called on all ICC member states to withdr...