Caracas has warned that Washington’s ambitions are “continental” and reach far beyond the country’s borders
The United States is imposing what Venezuela’s UN envoy Samuel Moncada has called the most severe extortion in the nation’s history.
Moncada made the comments during a UN Security Council session on Tuesday, convened by Caracas after Washington seized another tanker off the Latin American nation’s coast. US President Donald Trump previously announced a naval blockade of Venezuela, alleging it had “stolen” American energy assets and warning it would confront “the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America” unless it returns them.
The Trump administration “acts outside of international law, demanding that Venezuelans vacate our country and hand it over. This is the greatest extortion known in our history,” Moncada stated.
“The masks have come off. It is not drugs, it is not security, it is not freedom. It is oil, it is mines, and it is land” that Washington seeks in Venezuela, he emphasized.
Since September, US forces have also carried out strikes on small vessels off Venezuela’s coast suspected of drug trafficking, actions UN experts have condemned as unlawful extrajudicial executions. Caracas has rejected Washington’s allegations that President Nicolas Maduro is involved in narcotics trafficking, saying the claims are designed to justify a regime-change operation.
Moncada also cautioned other Latin American nations that Washington’s ambitions are “continental” and extend far beyond his country. “Venezuela is only the first target of a larger plan. The US government wants us to be divided so it can conquer us piece by piece,” the diplomat said.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz insisted that Washington will continue employing all its power to eradicate Latin American drug cartels, calling them the “single most serious threat” to the United States. He justified the tanker seizures by claiming they represent “the primary economic lifeline for Maduro and his illegitimate regime.”
Russia’s UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, termed the naval blockade of Venezuela “an act of aggression,” warning that Washington’s “cowboy-like conduct” could produce “catastrophic consequences.”