Venezuela calls on OPEC to counter US threats

Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, has urged Donald Trump and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to assist his nation in retaliating against “growing and illegal threats” from the United States.

Maduro accused the US of trying to “seize” Venezuela’s largest oil reserves, which the bloc of major oil-producing nations sent to them on Sunday.

According to a copy of the letter released by state broadcaster TeleSUR, “I hope you will make every effort possible to stop this aggression, which is getting stronger and seriously threatens the balance of the global energy market, both for producing and consuming nations,” Maduro said.

Maduro also “formally denounced” the use of deadly force against both OPEC&nbsp and the group of OPEC+ countries in a larger way.

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, which is estimated to be 303 billion barrels by 2023, but it exported only $4.05 billion worth of crude oil in 2023, which is significantly lower than that of other major-oil producing nations, in part as a result of US sanctions placed on it during the first Trump presidency.

The Latin American nation joined OPEC in 1960 along with Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, and its members worked together to control oil supplies and control the price of oil in the years that followed.

buildup in the military

Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that Venezuela’s airspace was closed, but Maduro’s letter contradicts that statement without providing any further details.

The above and neighboring Venezuela will be closed for good in its entirety, Trump wrote. “To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers, and human traffickers, please take into account the above and neighboring Venezuela.”

Trump’s statement was referred to as a “colonialist threat,” according to Caracas.

The government of Maduro has been saying for months that the Trump administration’s significant military presence in the Caribbean is meant to gain access to the nation’s oil and gas reserves.

Although critics have criticized the White House for claiming that its main goal is to stop drug trafficking, Venezuela is not a significant source of illegal drugs entering the US.

US strikes on ships that Trump claims were drug-carrying have resulted in at least 83 fatalities. The attacks have been criticized by human rights organizations as extrajudicial killings that violate international law.

The US has also deployed a sizable military presence to the Caribbean region, including the USS Gerald R. Ford, one of the largest aircraft carriers in the world, as well as F-35 fighter jets and thousands of soldiers.

“Drill, baby drill”

Trump has promised to significantly increase oil production as president, keeping the promise made during his re-election campaign for president in 2023, “drill, baby drill.”

For the first time in a long time, the Trump administration made new plans to drill for oil off the coasts of California, Florida, and the United States.