Venezuela’s government accused the United States on Saturday to carry out an “illegal” and “hostile” approach to a Venezuelan fishing boat, incident occurred in international waters. According to Venezuelan authorities, the approach was carried out by the destroyer of the American Navy Jason Dunham, which was “occupying” the boat for more than eight hours.
“Yesterday a Venezuelan Atunera fishing boat (…) was hostile addressed by a unit of the United States Navy, a military unit (…), the destroyer Jason Dunham, registration DDG-109, equipped with important weapons, missiles, men, military personnel with weapons of war,” said the Venezuelan chancellor, Yván Gil, in a speech transmitted by the channel Venezuelan television state (VTV).
In addition, the Venezuelan government accused certain political sectors of the United States that trying to generate a conflict to carry out what they considered a “regime change” in Venezuela, in an act that have described an act as “provocation.”
It should be noted that not long ago, in the same Caribbean area, US forces carried out several military operations. In one of them he even attacked what he considered a narcolanche, in an incident that resulted in the death of eleven people.
The Venezuelan Defense Minister also pointed out that these types of operations violate the country’s sovereign rights over their ZEE, which extends to 200 nautical miles from its coast. In the ZEE, Venezuela has exclusive jurisdiction on the exploitation of natural resources, such as fishing and oil, and considers that any incursion of a war ship in these waters represents a direct violation of his sovereignty.
The exclusive economic zone is a maritime area that It extends to 200 nautical miles from the coast of a country and in which it has exclusive rights over natural resources. Although other countries can navigate these waters, third -party military actions in this area are strictly regulated and are considered a violation of national sovereignty.
