The U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, stated this Tuesday before the Security Council that his country will implement sanctions “to the fullest” against Venezuela to deprive the government of Nicolás Maduro of resources that, according to Washington, finance the Cartel of the Suns, designated by the U.S. as a “terrorist organization.”
Waltz made the statements during an emergency meeting of the Council requested by Venezuela, following the blockade announced by U.S. President Donald Trump against the sanctioned oil vessels entering and leaving the South American country, according to a report by EFE.
In his speech, he stated that those oil workers are “the main economic lifeline for Maduro” and that, in addition, they finance the Cartel de los Soles.
The diplomat reiterated that Trump has been "very clear" in his intention to use "all the power and might" of the United States to "confront and eradicate" drug cartels that, he stated, have operated with impunity in the hemisphere.
On the Venezuelan side, the permanent representative to the UN, Samuel Moncada, described the oil blockade as a “criminal act of aggression” and asserted that Trump aims to “turn back the clock of history by 200 years” to “impose a colony” in Venezuela.
He also referred to U.S. attacks on alleged "narco boats" in the Caribbean and what he described as an "armed attack" that had been announced, he said, "for weeks."
Moncada described the American actions as "the greatest extortion" known in its history and warned that Venezuela would be "only the first target" of a larger plan against the rights of the states of the American continent, even "at the expense of the destruction of the UN."
He also characterized the offensive as a "war of plunder and looting" of oil, which he believes would impact the system of international relations and the "global South."
Russia and China came to the defense of Maduro's government at the Security Council, accusing the United States of "intimidation" and acting like "cowboys."
The Russian representative stated that U.S. actions are against international law and blamed Washington for "catastrophic" consequences of the pressure on chavismo, while the Chinese representative Sun Lei asserted that Beijing opposes unilateralism and intimidation, and supports countries defending their sovereignty and national dignity.
These statements are part of an escalation that intensified since September, when the U.S. began attacking vessels allegedly linked to drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the Pacific, resulting in "more than 100 fatalities."
The White House claims that its objective is to stop the influx of drugs into the U.S. and that the terrorist designation of the Cartel de los Soles authorizes the government to "legitimately defend" itself against this threat.
In addition to the above, the U.S. government intercepted on Saturday in the Caribbean a Panamanian-flagged tanker called Centuries, which was transporting Venezuelan crude oil to refineries in China.
This would be the second vessel intercepted in the Caribbean by the Trump administration, following the previous seizure of the Skipper ship and the confiscation of its crude oil.
Additionally, this Sunday the U.S. reportedly began an "active pursuit" to intercept a third tanker, the Bella 1, as confirmed to EFE by a U.S. official.
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