Venezuela has accused the United States of carrying out “extortion” and seeking to establish a “colony” in the South American country by blocking oil tankers off its coast, during a meeting at the United Nations (UN) Security Council. Requested by the Venezuelan government, the lively discussion on Tuesday (12/23) also saw demonstrations of support from allies of Nicolas Maduro’s regime, under increasing pressure from the White House.
“This is the greatest extortion known in our history, a gigantic crime of aggression being developed outside of all national parameters, all legal logic and all historical precedent,” he said during the meeting requested by Venezuela.
Venezuela’s permanent representative to the UN, Samuel Moncada, called the oil tanker blockade “a crime of aggression by which the president intends to set history back 200 years to impose a colony on Venezuela.”
In turn, the American ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said that his country would continue to impose sanctions on Venezuela “to the maximum” in order to “deprive” Maduro of the “financing” of the Cartel de los Soles. The United States accuses the president of being at the head of the criminal organization, which Venezuela denies.
According to Waltz, the sanctioned oil tankers constitute “the main economic lifeline of Maduro and his illegitimate regime.” The United States has intercepted two oil tankers in the Caribbean in recent weeks and said it had begun an “active pursuit” to seize a third tanker.
“Cowboy attitude”
With South American neighbors divided in their response to escalating tensions between Caracas and Washington, Maduro’s allies expressed support for Venezuela at the UN meeting.
Russia called the U.S. blockade of tankers “illegal” and said “this ongoing intervention could become a model for future acts of force against Latin American countries.”
Before the naval blockade announced last week by President Donald Trump, the United States was already investing in an offensive with military mobilization in the Caribbean Sea.
“Washington’s responsibility is also clearly evident in the catastrophic consequences of this ‘cowboy’ attitude,” Russian UN diplomat Vasily Nebenzia said.
For its part, China expressed its opposition to “acts of unilateralism and intimidation”. “China (…) supports all countries in defending their sovereignty and national dignity,” declared Chinese representative to the UN, Sun Lei.
In response, Waltz said Washington would do everything in its power to “protect our hemisphere, our borders and the American people.”
Division in the Americas
Among the countries of the Americas, Nicaragua has denounced acts of “modern piracy” by the United States. The term has been used repeatedly by the Venezuelan regime in reaction to the confiscation of ships carrying Venezuelan oil.
This weekend, the Mercosur summit in Foz do Iguaçu ended with a division between South American neighbors. Brazil and Uruguay were excluded from a statement on the sidelines of the meeting calling on Venezuela to restore democratic order through peaceful means and guarantee unrestricted respect for human rights.
Lula declared that a US intervention in Venezuela would be a humanitarian catastrophe. Argentine President Javier Milei called on partners to support US military pressure against Venezuela and condemn Maduro’s government.
After the UN meeting, Maduro and members of his government said the Venezuelan government had received “massive support” from the Security Council for the “right to free seaworthiness and free trade.”
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Pressure for support
Also on Tuesday, the Venezuelan Parliament approved a law punishing with up to 20 years in prison anyone who supports the seizure of oil tankers subject to US sanctions.
The text targets “any person who promotes, incites, requests, invokes, favors, facilitates, supports, finances or participates in actions of piracy, blocking or other international illicit acts against legal persons who carry out commercial operations with the Republic and its entities by States, powers, companies or foreign persons”.
Fines are also set in bolivars “equivalent to between 100,000 and 1 million times the highest exchange rate.” Anyone fined will also be subject to forfeiture.
For its part, the US government recently increased the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million.
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