The Venezuelan president has said Washington wants to impose a “puppet government” to plunder the country’s resources
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused the US of seeking to overthrow his government and turn his country into a colony, rejecting Washington’s recent threats and oil blockade as a “diplomacy of barbarism.”
Speaking in a televised address on Wednesday, Maduro said the US was attempting to impose a “puppet government” in Caracas that “would not last even 47 hours.”
He described the pressure campaign launched by US President Donald Trump as “warmongering” and aimed at seizing Venezuela’s natural wealth.
“They want regime change in Venezuela to impose a puppet government that would hand over the constitution, sovereignty, and all our riches and turn the country into a colony,” Maduro said. “That is not going to happen – never.”
Maduro’s remarks followed Trump’s announcement of a blockade on “sanctioned” oil tankers carrying Venezuelan crude. Trump has branded the government in Caracas a “foreign terrorist organization” and accused it of “stealing” US oil and other assets.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before – until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us,” Trump stated on Tuesday.
The Venezuelan leader insisted that the country’s oil trade and exports would continue, arguing that international law and the UN Charter protect freedom of navigation and commerce. “This is not the time for corsairs or piracy,” Maduro said.
He said Venezuela’s wealth belongs exclusively to its people, invoking independence leader Simon Bolivar and the country’s constitution. Maduro also warned that the US escalation represented what he called a “diplomacy of barbarism,” contrasting it with respect for international law and peaceful coexistence.
Maduro said Venezuela had both the legal right and the political strength to defend itself, while claiming support from “the peoples of the world.”
In a regional appeal, he called on Colombia and its armed forces to reject foreign military interventions and uphold what he described as Bolivar’s vision of unity. He vowed that Venezuela would defend its sovereignty “with strength, with truth, and with love for peace.”