▲ President Claudia Sheinbaum highlighted how weak the accusations made by Washington against the president of Venezuela are.Photo Germán Canseco
Alonso Urrutia and Emir Olivares
La Jornada Newspaper
Thursday, January 8, 2026, p. 5
President Claudia Sheinbaum maintained that, in the exercise of its sovereignty, each country has complete freedom to decide on its natural resources, and that it cannot be accepted that another nation tries to guide the destiny of assets that do not belong to it.
In reference to the statements of the head of the White House, Donald Trump, about his decisions regarding Venezuelan oil, he stated that beyond the internal problems or the dimensions of each country, sovereignty must be respected.
On the other hand, he questioned those views that seek to justify the action of the US army by denying that it was an invasion solely because the troops did not remain in Venezuelan territory, because that is wanting to cover the sun with a finger. “Regardless of the opinion one has of the government of Venezuela, of Nicolás Maduro, what cannot be is that a country manages to arrest – outside the entire international framework, international rules and norms – a president, no matter how much your opinion of that president is against it.”
When referring to the Venezuela case for the third consecutive day, he stressed that the evidence against President Nicolás Maduro is weak: “first they said it was because (being part of) this criminal group cartel The Suns. And then they said: ‘no’, that in reality (that cartel) does not exist (…) the Department of Justice itself said ‘no’. “You can’t agree with that.”
When asked about the role that the organizations of the United Nations and American States should play, he regretted the weakness that the first of them is going through, since it has lost a lot of strength, but “the OAS has other characteristics,” he noted in a tone of disqualification. It is necessary for the UN to strengthen its influence in international conflicts to settle differences because the law of force or reason cannot be imposed on the country that has the largest army or a largest economy.
Likewise, he condemned the positions that seek to justify US military intervention, because then they justify violating international laws. He stressed that legislation represents a social norm that regulates and guarantees democracy, which is why it cannot be violated under the logic that one country is above others.
When delving into the destination of Venezuelan oil, he stated that based on the constitutional principles of the country’s foreign policy, Mexico cannot agree with a nation appropriating or deciding on the natural resources of other countries. He stressed that our nation strives for development cooperation in the region while promoting greater economic integration, because if we want America to be an economic power, it must start from collaboration between countries, not from imposition by force.
