Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro said this Wednesday (17) that American President Donald Trump revealed his true intentions by accusing the South American country of stealing oil, land and other assets from the United States.
Maduro said it demonstrated that the US was actually seeking regime change, in addition to the appropriation of Venezuela’s territory and resources.
“It’s simply a warmongering, colonialist farce, and we’ve said it many times, and now everyone sees the truth. The truth has been revealed,” Maduro said.
“The objective in Venezuela is a regime change to impose a puppet government that would not last 47 hours, that would hand over the Constitution, sovereignty and all wealth, turning Venezuela into a colony. That will simply never happen,” he continued.
Earlier, the American president told reporters that Venezuela had illegally taken them and that they wanted them back.
“We’re taking back land, oil rights, everything we had. They took it all because we had a president who maybe wasn’t paying attention. But they’re not going to do that. We want it all back. They took our oil rights. We had a lot of oil there. As you know, they kicked out our companies and we want it all back.”
Previously, the US had characterized the increase in its naval presence near the country as a measure to combat .
On Tuesday (17), Trump wrote in Truth Social that military reinforcement around Venezuela would increase until the country returned to the US “the oil, land and other assets they previously stole from us.”
Venezuela brought its oil sector under state control in the 1970s. Previously, American companies had a much larger presence in its oil fields.
US increases pressure against Venezuela
The United States sent aircraft, vehicles, thousands of soldiers and an Armed Forces aircraft carrier strike group to the Caribbean, under the premise of combating drug trafficking.
The operations include several attacks on boats in both the Caribbean and the Pacific believed to be transporting drugs.
However, questions were raised about the legality of these actions.
In addition to attacks against vessels, the US is also putting pressure on the regime of Nicolás Maduro, dictator of Venezuela, who is accused by the White House of having links to drug trafficking and the Los Soles Cartel.
According to sources consulted by CNNDonald Trump’s government is drawing up plans for “the day after” Maduro’s ouster, but a decision has not yet been made on a direct attack on the country.
Trump spoke by phone with Maduro in late November, just days before the US classified him as a member of a foreign terrorist organization. The Venezuelan would have received an ultimatum to leave power and the country, but he failed to comply.
In another action that increased tension between the two countries, the United States seized an oil tanker near Venezuela, a measure classified as “brazen theft” and “an act of international piracy” by the Maduro regime.
Trump later announced a “total blockade” against Venezuela’s sanctioned oil tankers and said he will not let “anyone pass without due rights.”
