Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez has said Venezuela would defend the “homeland at any cost” in response to President Trump’s declaration that he’s imposing a blockade on all “sanctioned” tankers entering and leaving Venezuelan ports.
“We say to the US government and its president that we are not intimidated by their crude and arrogant threats,” Padrino Lopez said on Wednesday. “The dignity of this homeland is neither negotiable nor cowed by absolutely anyone.”
Padrino Lopen also told state TV that the blockade violates the UN Charter. “For this reason, these actions amount to an open act of aggression, and we are declaring this to the entire world,” he said.
The New York Times reported that, in the wake of Trump’s threat, which he issued on Tuesday night, the Venezuelan Navy began escorting tankers leaving Venezuelan ports, meaning that if the US attempts to seize another tanker that has a naval escort, it could lead to a direct clash between the US and Venezuelan militaries.
According to a report from The Associated Press, about 30 tankers under US sanctions were navigating near Venezuela as of Wednesday, and sanctioned vessels carried about 18% of Venezuela’s international shipments this year.
Also on Wednesday, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez issued a statement rejecting President Trump’s claims to Venezuela’s oil and land.
“Venezuela, in the full exercise of the International Law that protects us, our Constitution, and the laws of the Republic, reaffirms its sovereignty over all its natural resources, as well as the right to free navigation and free trade in the Caribbean Sea and the oceans of the world,” she said.
“His true intention, which has been denounced by Venezuela and the people of the United States in massive demonstrations, has always been to seize the country’s oil, land, and minerals through gigantic campaigns of lies and manipulation,” Rodriguez added.
