(Reuters) – The United States told the United Nations on Tuesday it intends to impose and enforce sanctions “to the fullest extent” to deprive Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of resources, as Russia warned other Latin American countries could be next.
For months, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has waged a deadly offensive campaign against suspected drug-trafficking vessels off the coast of Venezuela and Latin America’s Pacific coast. He threatened an attack on Venezuelan soil.
“The most serious threat to this hemisphere, our neighborhood and the United States comes from transnational terrorist and criminal groups,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Walz told the United Nations Security Council.
The United States has increased its military presence in the region, and President Trump announced a blockade of all vessels subject to U.S. sanctions. So far this month, the U.S. Coast Guard has seized two tankers full of Venezuelan crude oil in the Caribbean. The coast guard is also tracking a third empty ship that was approaching the OPEC country’s coast.
“The reality is that sanctioned oil tankers serve as a major economic lifeline for President Maduro and his illegitimate regime. Sanctioned tankers are also a source of funding for the narco-terrorist cartel de los Soles,” Walz said.
Late last month, the U.S. government designated the Cartel de los Soles (Sunshine Cartel) as a foreign terrorist organization for allegedly being involved in importing illegal drugs into the United States, and accused President Maduro of leading the Cartel de los Soles. The Venezuelan government rejected the “ridiculous” move to designate this “non-existent” group.
“This ongoing intervention could serve as a template for future military actions against Latin American countries,” Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia told the Security Council, citing President Trump’s recent strategic document in which the United States reaffirmed its primacy in the Western Hemisphere.
Mr. Walz spoke after Mr. Nebenzia but did not directly respond to his remarks.
China’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Sun Lei, told the council that he called on the United States to “immediately stop relevant actions and avoid further escalation of tensions.” Venezuela, backed by Russia and China, requested Tuesday’s meeting, and a second meeting was held as tensions escalated. The Security Council met for the first time in October, during which the United States justified its actions as consistent with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which requires states to immediately report to the Security Council any actions they take in self-defense against armed attack.
“Let me be absolutely clear that there is no war in the Caribbean, no international or non-international armed conflict, which is why it is absurd for the U.S. government to try to justify its actions by applying the rules of war,” Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations Samuel Moncada told the council.
“The threat is not Venezuela. The threat is the U.S. government,” he said.
Report by Michelle Nichols. Editing: Alistair Bell
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