The US military carried out a lethal strike on a vessel it said was engaged in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific, according to defence secretary Pete Hegseth, as president Donald Trump further ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela, accusing the country of taking US oil.
On Wednesday, Mr Hegseth said the “lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel engaged in “narco-trafficking operations” had killed four people. The latest strike in the Pacific brings the death toll to 99 since the US began its campaign of striking alleged drug-trafficking boats in September.
The announcement comes a day after Mr Trump said he had instituted a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, as he accused Venezuela of using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes and vowed to escalate the military build-up.
Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, struck a defiant note on Wednesday, insisting it was proceeding with business as usual, despite the threat of a blockade.
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“Export operations for crude and byproducts continue normally. Oil tankers linked to PDVSA operations continue to sail with full security,” state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) said.
Mr Trump has overseen a major military deployment off the coast of Venezuela, and the announcement of a blockade will add to pressure on Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, who claims the US seeks regime change instead of its stated goal of stopping drug trafficking.
Mr Maduro held telephone talks with United Nations secretary general António Guterres to discuss what he called the “escalation of threats” from Washington and their “implications for regional peace”.
The foreign minister of China, the main market for Venezuelan oil, defended Caracas in a phone call with his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil. “China opposes all unilateral bullying and supports all countries in defending their sovereignty and national dignity,” he said.
On Wednesday, US House republicans rejected a pair of Democratic-backed resolutions which would have forced the Trump administration to seek authorisation from Congress before continuing attacks against cartels that it deems to be terrorist organisations or launching an attack on Venezuela itself.
Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, argued that Trump’s aggressions in the region were really because “the president is coveting Venezuelan oil.”
On Wednesday, Trump cited lost US investments in Venezuela when asked about the blockade, suggesting his administration’s moves are at least somewhat motivated by disputes over oil investments.
“You remember they took all of our energy rights. They took all of our oil not that long ago. And we want it back. They took it – they illegally took it.”
US oil companies dominated Venezuela’s petroleum industry until the country’s leaders moved to nationalise the sector.
The Trump administration has said for months the campaign is about stopping drugs headed to the US, but Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, also appeared to confirm in a Vanity Fair interview published Tuesday that the campaign is part of a push to oust Mr Maduro.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum waded into the dispute Wednesday, declaring that the United Nations was “nowhere to be seen” and asked that it step up to “prevent any bloodshed”. – Guardian
