[News] Venezuela Strongly Condemns US Threat of Blockade, Gains International Backing

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Venezuela Strongly Condemns US Threat of Blockade, Gains International
Backing
December 18, 2025 <https://orinocotribune.com/2025/12/> -
https://orinocotribune.com/venezuela-mounts-full-state-rejection-to-trumps-blockade-threat-gains-international-backing/
[image: Oil tankers anchored in Lake Maracaibo after loading crude oil at
the Bajo Grande refinery port in Venezuela. Photo: José Bula
Urrutia/Gettyimages.ru.]

Oil tankers anchored in Lake Maracaibo after loading crude oil at the Bajo
Grande refinery port in Venezuela. Photo: José Bula Urrutia/Gettyimages.ru.
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Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—In an escalation of the US empire’s ongoing
illegal sanctions on Venezuela, US President Donald Trump has announced a
“full blockade” of the sovereign nation and its oil tanker fleet. He
claimed the measure would remain in place until Venezuela “returns all the
oil, land, and other assets” he alleged were previously stolen from the US.
The announcement ignited an immediate response from the Venezuelan
government, followed by all state institutions and international allies.

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in
the History of South America,” Trump wrote on social media this Tuesday,
December 16, adding that “it will only get bigger, and the shock to them
will be like nothing they have ever seen before.”

He did not specify what oil, land, or assets he claims were stolen, nor did
he elaborate on the bizarre claims of the so-called “war on drugs” argument
that has seemed to take a backseat in recent days; something that Caracas
has consistently condemned as an aggression against its sovereignty and an
attempt to seize its natural resources.

In his post online, the US president attacked the Venezuelan government,
labeling it an “illegitimate regime.” He accused it of using “oil from […]
stolen fields to finance narcoterrorism, human trafficking, murder, and
kidnapping,” refusing to provide any evidence for his fictitious claims.
Venezuela has repeatedly proven that the nation has been robbed of billions
of dollars in international bank accounts, two tons of gold seized by the
Bank of England, and the CITGO Corporation. The oil retailer and refining
corporation is owned by PDVSA and valued at more than $15 billion, with
yearly revenue of about $4 billion.

*Foreign terrorist organization designation*
“For the theft of our assets, and for many other reasons, including
terrorism, drug trafficking, and human trafficking,” continued Trump’s
statement, “the Venezuelan regime has been designated a foreign terrorist
organization. Therefore, today I am ordering a total and complete blockade
of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.”

The US president also insisted on repeating other unfounded accusations,
such as that Caracas supposedly sent “illegal immigrants and criminals”
into the US. He stated the White House “will not allow criminals,
terrorists or other countries to steal, threaten or harm” his country, nor
allow “a hostile regime” to seize oil he claims to somehow be property of
the US colonial entity, despite the resources being located in Venezuelan
territory and belonging to the Venezuelan people.

*“We will not give up”*
Earlier on Tuesday, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro reiterated that,
despite prolonged and multifaceted US aggression, Venezuela will defeat
“the oligarchy and imperialism under any circumstances.”

“For 25 weeks, Venezuela has been denouncing, confronting, and defeating a
multidimensional campaign of aggression that ranges from psychological
terrorism to the piracy that has plundered our oil, and which has multiple
forms,” he stated in an address to Venezuelan workers. “What has Venezuela
demonstrated? […] That Venezuela is a strong country, that it has real
power. And we have demonstrated that we are prepared to continue our march.
And, what’s more, that we are prepared to accelerate the march of a
profound revolution that will give power to the people, completely and
definitively.”

Citizens have consistently taken to the streets to display support for
Venezuelan authorities and their rejection of US imperialism, demonstrating
their readiness to resist by any means, including through the use of force.
On December 10, these protests included the mass condemnation of the
seizure of a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil in the Caribbean Sea, an act
denounced by Caracas that same day at the UN Security Council as an act of
piracy.

*Government communique*
On Wednesday night, the Venezuelan government issued
<https://x.com/venanalysis/status/2001116534324736114> a statement in
response to what many analysts consider a declaration of war by the US
empire, despite the US president neglecting to request for the
congressional approval mandated under US law.

The statement reiterates Venezuela’s full sovereignty over its natural
resources, the right to free navigation and free trade, as well as its
adherence to the UN Charter. “[The US’s] true intention,” it adds, “which
has been denounced by Venezuela and the people of the US in large
demonstrations, was always to appropriate the country’s oil, land, and
minerals through gigantic campaigns of lies and manipulation.”

Below, you can read the full unofficial translation of the Venezuelan
government’s statement:

*A united Venezuela rejects Trump’s grotesque threat and will condemn it*
*On the night of December 16, 2025, the President of the United States,
Donald Trump, violating International Law, free trade, and free navigation,
has launched a reckless and serious threat against the Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela.*

*On his social media, he assumes that Venezuela’s oil, land, and mineral
wealth are his property. Consequently, he claims that Venezuela must hand
over all its riches to him immediately. The President of the United States
is attempting to impose a supposed naval and military blockade on Venezuela
in an utterly irrational manner, with the aim of stealing the wealth that
belongs to our nation.*

*Venezuela, in full exercise of the International Law that protects us, our
Constitution, and the laws of the Republic, reaffirms its sovereignty over
all its natural resources, as well as its right to free navigation and free
trade in the Caribbean Sea and the world’s oceans. Consequently, it will
proceed, in strict adherence to the UN Charter, to fully exercise its
freedom, jurisdiction, and sovereignty in the face of these warmongering
threats.*

*Our Ambassador to the UN will immediately denounce this serious violation
of International Law against Venezuela.*

*We call upon the people of the United States and the peoples of the world
to reject by all means this extravagant threat, which once again reveals
Donald Trump’s true intentions to steal the riches of the country that gave
birth to the United Liberation Army of South America and to our Liberator,
Simón Bolívar. The people of Venezuela, in perfect popular, military, and
police unity, will know how to defend their historical rights and triumph
through peace.*

*Mr. Donald Trump explicitly stated the following interventionist and
colonialist expression: “until all the oil, land, and other assets that
were previously stolen from us are returned to the United States.” His true
intention, which has been denounced by Venezuela and the people of the
United States in massive demonstrations, has always been to seize the
country’s oil, land, and minerals through gigantic campaigns of lies and
manipulation.*

*Venezuela will never again be a colony of any empire or foreign power and
will continue to walk, together with its people, the path of building
prosperity and the unrestricted defense of our independence and
sovereignty.*

*The Venezuelan people, in perfect popular, military, and police unity,
remain steadfast in the unrestricted protection of their territory, their
resources, and their freedom. With our Liberator, we say: “Fortunately, a
handful of free men have defeated powerful empires.”*

*Caracas, December 16, 2025.*

*Comprehensive state response*
On Wednesday, the first institution to respond
<https://x.com/camilapress/status/2001315941645242670> to the threat was
the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB). Venezuela’s Defense Minister
Vladimir Padrino, together with the FANB’s High Command, stated it would
preserve at all costs the nation’s territorial integrity, its legitimate
rights over airspace and maritime areas, and sovereignty, independence, and
peace that the nation holds dear.

“We can say that Venezuela has scored a victory in the face of truth; the
truth has been revealed,” the military commander warned. “It is now through
force, no longer through sanctions, unilateral coercive measures,
political, diplomatic, and media isolation, psychological terrorism; force
and violence have been used, and those who resort to them are lost.”

He emphasized that Washington’s “war on drugs” narrative “has fallen apart
in the eyes of international public opinion,” and that US imperialism is
blatant in its desire for Venezuela’s natural resources. Furthermore, he
rejected Trump’s accusations that Venezuela stole any assets of the US,
claiming the true intentions of the empire “are nothing other than to force
regime change in our country and grossly seize its oil and other strategic
natural resources.”

Almost simultaneously, PDVSA issued <https://t.me/DrodriguezVen/12857> a
statement reporting that oil export operations are continuing as scheduled.
“The export operations of Venezuelan crude oil and derivatives continue
despite the attempted illegal and illegitimate blockade, through secure
schemes and full guarantees,” reported Delcy Rodríguez, head of PDVSA and
the vice president of Venezuela.

“Oil tankers linked to PDVSA operations continue to sail with full
assurance, technical support, and operational guarantees, in the legitimate
exercise of the rights to free navigation and free trade, widely recognized
and protected by international law,” the statement reads, reiterating that
PDVSA has remained active despite all of the US attacks it has endured.

Minutes later, the Moral Republican Council—formed by the Prosecutor’s
Office, Comptroller’s Office, and Ombudsman’s Office, one of the five
branches of the Venezuelan state—made a televised statement expressing
<https://x.com/lubrio/status/2001316711526494713> its support for President
Maduro in all measures he decides to take to safeguard Venezuela’s rights
and sovereignty, describing Trump’s action as a brutal escalation.

The Moral Council made a “call to the people of the US and the peoples of
the world to reject by all means this aberrant threat that reveals the true
intentions of the US government to steal the resources of our country and
our continent.”

In the afternoon, the National Assembly unanimously approved
<https://x.com/Asamblea_Ven/status/2001351028458033581> a resolution
repudiating the US president’s announcement. The parliament agreed to
defend “the full and inalienable sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela over all its territory,” including its natural resources,
emphasizing that they are “inviolable, inalienable, and under the absolute
ownership and control of [Venezuela].”

The deputies called “upon the Venezuelan people to remain on alert and
permanently mobilized in perfect popular, military, and police unity for
the unrestricted defense of the historical rights of the homeland, thus
ensuring peace and territorial integrity against any threat that seeks to
disturb” Venezuela’s independence.

The peoples and governments of the world were also urged to “reject by all
means this extravagant threat that undermines global peace and reveals US
true intentions of plunder.”

Venezuela’s judicial branch joined
<https://x.com/teleSURtv/status/2001363271379726632> in rejecting the US
actions, as confirmed by the president of the Supreme Court of Justice
(TSJ), Caryslia Rodríguez. After reading an official statement, Rodríguez
added that the imposition of a “naval blockade” constitutes an attack on
sovereignty and a new violation of Venezuela’s constitution and
international law.

“Today, we condemn [the US] and call for a united effort to restore and
maintain ethical and legal values as instruments of peace, sovereignty, and
equality among the peoples of the world,” Rodríguez stated. She explained
that the TSJ supports the ratification of Venezuela’s sovereignty over its
natural resources and its right to free navigation and free trade.

*Local and international reaction*
Chavista forces and leaders rejected the Trump announcement across social
media, accompanied by public statements from far-right politicians who are
not sympathizers of President Maduro or Chavismo, such as Bernabe Gutierrez
<https://x.com/adbernabe/status/2001131016056897656>, Enrique Ochoa Antich
<https://x.com/ehochoa_antich/status/2001289884363862128>, and Henry Falcon
<https://x.com/HenriFalconLara/status/2001292328573542546>, among others.

Latin American presidents and international allies have also expressed full
support for Venezuela against what many consider to be an act of war that
violates the UN Charter.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed
<https://x.com/SputnikMundo/status/2001325964211474819> deep concern over
the belligerent US statements and over Europe’s silence on the matter.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated
<https://x.com/telesurenglish/status/2001315085914972277> México’s historic
position against foreign interventions and demanded the United Nations
assume its due role as an international peacekeeping body to “avoid a
bloodshed.”

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel had already expressed
<https://x.com/DiazCanelB/status/2001114927105208777> Cuba’s strong
condemnation of a US naval blockade and its support for Venezuela and the
Bolivarian Revolution.

Iran also issued <https://x.com/IRIMFA_EN/status/2001368357543559276> a
communiqué strongly rejecting the US threats. “The US interference with, as
well as its seizure and obstruction of, the free passage of commercial
vessels to or from Venezuela constitutes a clear case of state piracy and
armed robbery at sea,” the statement reads. “Invoking US domestic laws and
unilateral, illegal sanctions to justify these actions cannot, in any way,
serve as a basis to legitimize such criminal acts.”

China reported <https://x.com/SprinterPress/status/2001403595627893245>
that its minister for foreign affairs, Wang Yi, had a phone conversation
with his Venezuelan counterpart Yván Gil, expressing opposition to the US
empire’s unilateral bullying.

Even the German government expressed concern over Trump’s threats, warning
of risks to regional peace and stability, as stated by spokesman for the
German Foreign Ministry, Martin Giese. “The German government has an
interest in preventing the situation in the region from deteriorating
further,” he said during a press conference. “Therefore, we view the
overall situation with concern. Of course, international law must be
respected.”

The Venezuelan government announced on Wednesday night that President
Maduro held a phone conversation with UN Secretary General António
Guterres, in order to warn him about the growing escalation of US threats
and their possible implications for regional peace. The head of state
explained that Trump’s claims were supported by senior US official Stephen
Miller, who said the Venezuelan oil industry was also to be owned by the US
regime, which marks a direct colonial threat to Venezuela’s sovereignty and
international law.



Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
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