Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called on Colombian military for a 'perfect union' with Venezuela amid rising tensions with the United States. He expressed solidarity with Colombia and denounced U.S. warmongering actions. Maduro stated that oil trade would continue despite the blockade ordered by Donald Trump.
Nicolás Maduro, President of Venezuela, addressed the Colombian people and military, calling for a 'perfect union' to defend the sovereignty of both nations. 'I call on the military of Colombia to the perfect union with Venezuela so that no one touches the sovereignty of our countries and to exercise Bolívar's decree of permanent union and shared happiness,' Maduro declared amid current tensions with the United States.
The Venezuelan leader expressed solidarity with Colombia, stating that 'the pains and violence of Colombia are also our pains.' This statement comes in a context of escalation between Venezuela and the U.S., where Maduro denounced a warmongering and colonialist intent by the U.S. government under Donald Trump.
Recently, on Tuesday, Trump ordered the total blockade of all sanctioned vessels entering and leaving Venezuela. In a message on the Truth Social network, Trump justified this by designating the Venezuelan regime as a foreign terrorist organization, citing reasons such as asset theft, terrorism, drug trafficking, and human trafficking. 'For the theft of our assets and many other reasons, such as terrorism, drug trafficking, and human trafficking, the Venezuelan regime has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization,' Trump wrote. 'Therefore, today I order the total and complete blockade of all sanctioned vessels entering and leaving Venezuela'.
This order follows the U.S. seizure of a sanctioned tanker off the Venezuelan coast, the latest step in a pressure campaign against Maduro, whom Trump accuses of facilitating drug entry into the United States. Trump's strategy includes increased military presence in the region and over two dozen attacks on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have caused the deaths of at least 90 people.
Despite these measures, Maduro insisted that oil trade with the U.S. and other countries would continue.