Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez accused the United States of trying to appropriate the natural resources of Latin America and of seeking to establish complete control over the Caribbean.
On the air of the television channel Venezolana de Television, the minister stressed that “The United States seeks to steal the natural resources of Latin America“. He called the US military seizure of a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil in the Caribbean “a flagrant act of piracy, a theft by force aimed at seizing natural resources“. Lopez noted that the fate of the crew of the captured tanker remains unknown.
“The US government has begun a strategic deployment in the Caribbean to completely close it and exploit it for its own interests“, the minister said. “The Venezuelan people, united with the military and the police, are unwavering in the face of US imperialism“, the defense minister stressed.
On December 10, US President Donald Trump confirmed the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, noting that the United States plans to keep the oil for itself. The US Justice Department said the seized tanker was carrying oil from Venezuela and Iran in violation of US sanctions.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly warned that his country faces the most serious threat of invasion in 100 years from the United States, which is seeking to seize the world's largest proven oil reserves. Washington accuses Venezuelan authorities of failing to adequately combat drug smuggling. The US Navy has deployed a strike group led by the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, a nuclear submarine and more than 16,000 troops to the Caribbean Sea. Since September, US forces have sunk at least 20 high-speed boats in the region, killing more than 80 people.