Caracas warns of the deployment of 14 warships and 15,000 troops in the Caribbean
The Venezuelan government denounced this Sunday, during the ministerial conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), that the United States “intends to seize” Venezuelan oil reserves, considered the largest on the planet.
“Venezuela formally denounces before this body that the United States government intends to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest on the planet, through the use of force. This intention is contrary to peaceful coexistence among nations and jeopardizes Venezuelan oil production and the global market,” stated Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, in a message presented during the meeting and signed by President Nicolás Maduro.
Caracas also warned that the United States “has deployed more than 14 ships and 15,000 military personnel” in the Caribbean, and that these forces have carried out more than 20 bombings against alleged drug trafficking vessels, which have resulted in “the deaths of 80 people.”
“These past months have been marked by constant and repeated threats of the use of force against the Venezuelan state, which violates the Charter of the United Nations and International Law,” the Venezuelan government stated, noting that this situation “gravely jeopardizes regional and international peace, security, and stability.”
The government emphasized that it will remain “firm” in the defense of its sovereign resources and that it “will not succumb to any type of threat.” Furthermore, it appealed to producing and consuming countries to “contribute to stopping this aggression,” which, according to Caracas, threatens the balance of the global energy market.
For his part, US President Donald Trump declared on Saturday that the airspace “over and around Venezuela” was completely “closed,” a move that escalates tensions following his repeated assertions that a ground intervention would be among his options to combat drug traffickers, referring to the military deployment in the region.
“We ask all airlines, pilots, drug traffickers, and human traffickers to take note that the airspace over and around Venezuela will remain completely closed,” the US president stated via his Truth Social platform.
