UN Chief holds phone call with Venezuela’s Maduro amid US oil blockade
A statement from Guterres’ office noted: "The Secretary-General has received a phone call from H.E. Nicolas Maduro Moros, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, regarding the current tensions in the region." During the conversation, Guterres reaffirmed the United Nations' position on the need for Member States to respect international law, particularly the United Nations Charter," and stressed the importance of “exert[ing] restraint and de-escalat[ing] tensions to preserve regional stability.”
Earlier, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq reiterated that Guterres “calls for restraint and for the immediate de-escalation of the situation.”
The phone call came after US President Donald Trump announced on Monday a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned vessels entering or leaving Venezuela. The announcement followed a buildup of US forces off Venezuela’s northern coast in the Caribbean Sea, according to reports.
Caracas denounced the blockade as “grotesque,” accusing Trump of attempting to seize the country’s natural resources. A Venezuelan government statement claimed that Trump “assumes that Venezuela's oil, land, and mineral wealth are his property.”
Over the past four months, US forces have maintained a growing military presence in the Caribbean, carrying out strikes against vessels suspected of drug trafficking. Trump has also indicated that US forces could conduct land strikes on Venezuelan soil.
Tensions further escalated on Dec. 10 when US forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, an action Caracas described as “international piracy.”
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