The President of the United States, Donald Trump, affirmed this Monday that his Government will keep the Venezuelan oil obtained through acts of theft and aggression in Caribbean waters.
“We are going to keep it. Maybe we will sell it, maybe we will use it in the strategic reserves. We will also keep the ships,” said the president.
In statements to the press, Trump pointed out that crude oil shipments transported on private ships will remain under the control of Washington and could be incorporated into the US strategic reserve or sold on the international market.
On the other hand, he reported that he has approved a plan for the Navy to begin construction of two completely new, large warships, “the largest we have ever built,” since some of the existing ones in the US Navy have become obsolete.
On the other hand, when questioned whether the Venezuelan president should take Washington’s threats seriously, Trump affirmed that his counterpart could do whatever he wanted. “He [Maduro] you can do whatever you want. It’s okay, whatever you want to do. “If he wants to do something, if he acts tough, it will be the last time he can act tough,” he said.
On December 15, Trump ordered a “total and complete blockade” of all “sanctioned oil tankers” entering and leaving Venezuela and reiterated that he has designated the government as a “foreign terrorist organization.” Given this, President Nicolás Maduro urged leaders of the Latin American region to condemn what he considers the “kidnapping and theft” by the United States.
Military operation in the Caribbean
Since last August, the United States has maintained an extensive naval and air deployment in the Caribbean, under the initial argument of combating drug trafficking. However, as the months have passed, the official narrative has transformed into a discourse focused on the control and looting of Venezuelan energy resources.
In recent weeks, US forces have carried out multiple attacks against vessels, causing more than a hundred deaths, without presenting evidence of links to illicit activities.
International response and complaint at the UN
The Venezuelan Government described these actions as acts of piracy and theft, and announced that it will go to the UN Security Council to denounce the military aggressions of the United States.
For their part, Russia and China expressed their rejection of any action that infringes the sovereignty of other countries, while Caracas warned that these operations threaten to destabilize the Caribbean region and the international system as a whole.
After the theft of the second oil tanker perpetrated by the US military forces, China rejected this illegal action and expressed that he opposes all forms of unilateralism and intimidation.
Faced with this act of piracy carried out by Washington, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that Venezuela has the right to independently develop mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries.
Also RussiaCuba and Mexico have expressed total rejection of these actions by the Trump administration. The Chancellor of the Republic, Yván Gil, reported through his Telegram channel that he had a conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in which both reviewed the flagrant aggressions and violations of international law that have been committed in the Caribbean, where the US has carried out attacks against ships and extrajudicial executions, in addition to the recent illicit acts of piracy.
Likewise, Venezuela issued a statement this Saturday in which it categorically repudiated the robbery and kidnapping of a second private ship transporting Venezuelan oilas well as the forced disappearance of its crew, events attributed to United States military personnel in international waters.
The Venezuelan Government described the action as a serious act of piracy, pointing out that it constitutes the commission of the crime provided for in Article 3 of the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation.
