China, Russia and the UN react to the US offensive in Venezuela

The escalation by the United States to take control of Venezuelan oil and impose a political transition under Washington’s supervision provoked immediate reactions from China, Russia and the United Nations.

The governments of Beijing and Moscow also denounced this Wednesday (7) the seizure of an oil tanker sailing under the Russian flag in international waters as a violation of international law.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres met with Venezuelan diplomats in New York, at UN headquarters, and reaffirmed Venezuela’s permanent sovereignty over its natural resources.

The operation is seen as the beginning of the first phase of a plan announced by the White House to control Venezuelan oil. In a press conference at the Capitol, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the country’s production is, in practice, blocked by the sanctions imposed by Washington.

“They can’t move the oil unless we let them, because there are sanctions and we’re enforcing those sanctions. That’s a huge amount of leverage, and we’re using that leverage in a positive way,” Rubio said.

read more: US announces plan to manage Venezuela’s oil and force transition

Russia denounced the violations by the United States and classified the action as an expression of “neocolonialist intentions”, following the seizure of the tanker Mariner, which was sailing under the Russian flag in international waters in the North Atlantic.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the operation in the North Atlantic was “illegal and violent” and declared that “the approach of a peaceful ship on the high seas cannot be interpreted in any other way than as a serious violation of the fundamental principles and norms of international maritime law, as well as freedom of navigation.”

“Insinuations that the interception of the Mariner is part of a broader strategy to establish unlimited control over Venezuela’s natural resources are extremely cynical. We roundly reject such neocolonialist pretensions,” said Zakharova.

China reacted to the plan announced by Washington to take control of Venezuelan oil, stating that the initiative violates fundamental principles of international law and the sovereignty of States.

“Venezuela is a sovereign state and has full permanent sovereignty over all its natural resources and economic activities,” declared this Wednesday the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning.

Read more: At the OAS, Brazil condemns intervention and kidnapping of Maduro in Venezuela

When commenting on the North Americans’ act of pillage in the North Atlantic, Mao Ning stated that unilateral sanctions imposed outside the framework of the UN Security Council cannot serve as a basis for coercive actions on the high seas.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, also reacted to the Trump administration’s latest actions and declared that the country’s oil belongs to the Venezuelan people.

In a meeting with the ambassador of the Venezuelan mission to the UN, Samuel Moncada, Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated that the United States military incursion represents a “flagrant violation of the UN Charter and the norms of international law”.