Venezuela accused the United States of committing the “largest blackmail operation” during an emergency session of the UN Security Council in New York.
Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations said Washington’s seizure of two Venezuelan oil tankers was “worse than piracy.”
An emergency meeting of the Security Council was called to discuss the seizure of tankers that occurred off the coast of Venezuela earlier this month.
The United States also said it was pursuing a third Venezuelan oil tanker.
President Trump accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug cartel, and said the cartels had been operating with impunity for too long.
On December 16, Trump ordered a naval blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. The US President said that the United States would keep or sell the crude oil on the tankers it seized, as well as the ships themselves.
The United States has deployed 15,000 troops and a group of aircraft carriers, guided missile destroyers, and amphibious assault ships in the Caribbean.
The stated goal of the deployment – the largest in the region since the US invasion of Panama in 1989 – is to stop the flow of fentanyl and cocaine into the United States.
The United States has also targeted more than 20 ships in the Pacific and Caribbean in recent months, killing at least 100 people, as part of President Trump’s campaign against gangs he accuses of transporting drugs in the region.
Some experts say the strikes may violate laws governing armed conflicts.
Venezuela’s representative to the United Nations said that the United States is subjecting his country to the “largest blackmail operation” in its history.
Speaking before the UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Samuel Moncada said: “We are faced with a force operating outside the scope of international law, demanding that Venezuelans evacuate and hand over our country.”
Regarding the US confiscation of Venezuelan oil, he added: “We are talking about plundering and recolonization of Venezuela.
“The United States government has no jurisdiction in the Caribbean.”
Referring to the Venezuelan oil industry, he said: “What does this have to do with drugs?”
In response, US Ambassador to the United Nations, Michael Waltz, told the Security Council that the United States does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.
“Maduro’s ability to sell Venezuelan oil enables his fraudulent claims to power and his drug-related terrorist activities,” Waltz said.
During a visit to a trade fair in Caracas, President Maduro said that “the Security Council provides overwhelming support to Venezuela.”
Russia and China accused the United States of bullying and aggression.
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, told the UN meeting that the United States is “illegally destroying” civilian ships in the Caribbean Sea.
He warned that other countries could be next.
He added that the US actions against Venezuelan ships were “a model for future force actions against Latin American countries.”
Meanwhile, China’s UN envoy, Sun Li, called on the United States to “immediately stop relevant measures and avoid further escalation of tensions.”