Minister Vladimir Padrino López called on the United States to stop the “game of psychological operations” that, he said, they maintain against the population. “Let no one be mistaken about Venezuela, we have seen attempts to intimidate us by bringing air vectors of the United States Armed Forces closer to our coasts”
The Minister of Defense, G/J Vladimir Padrino López, accused the United States Government of an “act of piracy” this Friday the 12th after the seizure of an oil tanker near Venezuelan waters.
«This act of piracy that has just been committed in the Caribbean Sea is a crude, rude act of thief. “It is a cowardly act of imposing force to appropriate resources that do not belong to them,” stated Padrino López during an event for the 47th anniversary of the Comprehensive Aerospace Defense Command (Codai).
On Wednesday the 10th, Donald Trump’s administration seized an oil tanker (Skipper) off the coast of Venezuela, amid growing tensions with the Nicolás Maduro administration over the US military deployment in the Caribbean.
*Read also: Transparency Venezuela: 40% of the tankers that arrive in Venezuela are irregular
The official wondered what will be the fate of the crew of the tanker that, according to foreign press reports, was sailing under a false Guyanese flag. “They are crew members of private companies,” he indicated.
Likewise, he called on the United States to stop the “game of psychological operations” that, he said, they maintain against the population. “Let no one be mistaken about Venezuela, we have seen attempts to intimidate us by bringing air vectors of the United States Armed Forces closer to our coasts.”
This is in reference to information about the presence of US fighter planes for at least 40 minutes on the western Venezuelan coast at the beginning of the week.
“We tell you that you should not be mistaken about us, we are prepared to defend this country… That is not going to intimidate us, we are not going to break because you are with an air-naval military deployment in the Caribbean, carrying out offensive maneuvers near the Venezuelan coast,” Padrino López reaffirmed.
The minister reiterated that the Venezuelan Armed Forces have “the capacity to react and defend our airspace.”
On the other hand, Padrino López indicated that they maintain actions to protect the airspace against incursions by “aircraft associated with drug trafficking.” According to the minister, this year they have “neutralized” 30 small planes linked to drug trafficking activities.
Earlier, the operational strategic commander of the FAN, G/J Domingo Hernández Lárez, reported on the destruction of two aircraft in the Rómulo Gallegos municipality, Apure state. The small planes, YV-2221 and YV-795, remained hidden on an unauthorized airfield within a logistics camp linked to drug trafficking.
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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