Caracas.- The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, reiterated this Wednesday that his country opposes a war with the United States amid the escalation of tensions due to the military deployment of that country in the Caribbean Sea, while promising to continue complying with oil exports after the announcement by President
Donald Trump to block all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving the South American country.
"War? We have said no," said the president in a meeting with members of the 'Bolivarian Society', in Caracas, broadcast by the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
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Maduro pointed out that he will continue with "the trade for there and for here" of his country's oil in line with the declaration of the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) which earlier indicated that the ships linked to its operations "continue sailing with full insurance, technical support and operational guarantees, in legitimate exercise of the rights to free navigation and free trade, widely recognized and protected by international law".
Following PDVSA's statement, a chain of reactions from Venezuelan institutions - Prosecutor's Office, Comptroller's Office, Ombudsman's Office, Supreme Tribunal - condemned the blockade, calling it "theft", "reckless" or "aberrant threat" and "attack on sovereignty".
"Warmongering and Colonialist Pretension"
Trump announced on Tuesday a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela without detailing how many tankers are affected and assured that the Caribbean nation "is surrounded" by "the largest navy ever assembled in the history of South America" and that the shock will be like never before until "they return all the oil, land and other assets they previously stole" from the US.
"Remember that they took away all our energy rights. They took away all our oil not so long ago. We want it back. They took it away illegally," Trump insisted on Wednesday to the press from Andrews Air Force Base, outside Washington.
Maduro, however, considered the statement as a "warmongering and colonialist pretense." The Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, and the head of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, -both siblings- were also blunt in stating that Venezuela's oil belongs to Venezuelans.
"There will be no free or stolen oil for any foreign power. We will continue to be free and independent in our energy relations. Together with President Nicolás Maduro, we will continue to defend the Homeland. The looting and plunder will not return!", wrote Delcy Rodríguez in a message published on Telegram, after the White House assured that it created the oil industry and described the nationalization of the South American country's industry, in 1976, as the "biggest robbery" in American history.
"The land, oil, gold, sky, seas and rivers of Venezuela belong to Venezuelans," said Jorge Rodríguez, for his part, during a session of Parliament in which an agreement was approved to reject Trump's "reckless threat" which -they point out- "constitutes an unacceptable violation of international law."
Meanwhile, Venezuela's Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino López, assured that the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) will preserve "at all costs" territorial integrity and will defend "legitimate rights over its airspace and maritime spaces; and in an irreducible way, will defend its freedom, sovereignty, independence and peace."
UN calls for moderation
Maduro also held a phone call with the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, to alert him about the "escalation of threats" from the United States and "its serious implications for regional peace".
According to a statement from the Venezuelan Government issued this Wednesday, Maduro mentioned to Guterres the publication of the US president, calling the statements "expressions of open colonial character" and criticized what the deputy chief of staff of the White House, Stephen Miller, said this Wednesday about the oil industry.
Guterres reaffirmed, during the conversation with Maduro, the organization's position that member states should "exercise restraint, reduce tensions and preserve regional stability".
This Wednesday, the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, called on the UN to fulfill its role in order to avoid a "bloodshed" amid tensions between Caracas and Washington.
Trinidad and Tobago also spoke out regarding this blockade and denied being involved.
This Wednesday, ultra-conservative journalist Tucker Carlson claimed that Trump will announce war with Venezuela during his speech to the nation tonight, according to, he said, a member of Congress informed him.
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