Leaders in Latin America and the United Nations have voiced concerns about the spiralling tensions between the United States and Venezuela over the future of oil exports from the South American country.
The high-profile remarks on Wednesday come as Venezuela’s National Assembly convenes to discuss US President Donald Trump’s threat of a full blockade on oil tankers entering and exiting the country.
Petroleum is Venezuela’s top export and a pillar of its economy. Experts warn that, by threatening to sever Venezuela from its foreign oil markets, the US is attempting to destabilise the country’s economy and topple the leadership of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Already, tensions between the US and Venezuela are at a high, with the Trump administration surging military assets to the Caribbean and Maduro responding with his own troop movements.
That has led figures like United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to press for calm in the region and a de-escalation.
Through UN spokesperson Farhan Haq, Guterres called on both countries to “honour their obligations under international law” and “safeguard peace in the region”.
Guterres also spoke with Maduro by telephone on Wednesday, repeating the need for both parties to respect international law.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, however, questioned whether the UN was taking enough precautions to prevent a full-scale conflict from erupting in the Americas.
“I call on the United Nations to fulfil its role. It has not been present. It must assume its role to prevent any bloodshed,” Sheinbaum said in her morning news conference on Wednesday.
She echoed Guterres’s appeal to find a “peaceful solution” to the tensions, adding: “We call for dialogue and peace, not intervention.”
The regional friction was also felt at a ministerial meeting in Brazil on Wednesday, where President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke to the conflict.
“I am concerned about Latin America. I am concerned about President Trump’s attitudes toward Latin America, his threats. We are going to have to be very attentive to this issue,” Lula said.
The Brazilian leader shared that he had spoken to Trump about Venezuela and urged him to find a diplomatic solution.
“The power of words can be worth more than the power of weapons,” Lula said he told Trump. “It costs less and takes less time if you are willing to do it.”
He added that he had offered Brazil’s services as a mediator to facilitate communications with Venezuela. It shares a border with Venezuela to the north, and previously, in 2022, Lula restored Brazil’s relations with the Maduro government.
“I told Trump: ‘If you are interested in talking on good terms with Venezuela, we can contribute. Now, you have to be willing to talk. You have to have patience,’” Lula said.
The comments come on the heels of Trump’s latest threats on Tuesday.
On his online platform Truth Social, the US leader announced that he had designated Maduro’s government as a “foreign terrorist organisation” and would implement a “TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela”.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump wrote. “It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before.”
Already, Trump has offered a $50m bounty for any information that leads to Maduro’s arrest, and his administration has deployed approximately 15,000 troops to the Caribbean, along with military jets and ships, among them the USS Gerald Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world.
Last week, the Trump administration also seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, claiming the vessel was sanctioned. The tanker’s oil, Trump said, would remain with the US.
Since his first term, Trump has led a “maximum pressure” campaign against the Maduro government, which has been accused of human rights abuses ranging from torture to the false imprisonment of political dissidents.
Last year, Maduro also claimed victory in a highly contested presidential election that critics called fraudulent — and that was followed by a deadly crackdown on protesters.
But critics have accused Trump of using his feud with Maduro as a pretext to expand his presidential powers and carry out controversial actions in the Caribbean region.
Since September 2, for instance, the Trump administration has bombed at least 25 boats and maritime vessels as part of an anti-drug campaign. An estimated 95 people have been killed in the attacks, which UN experts have likened to extrajudicial killings, in violation of international law.
Trump, however, has argued that the air strikes were necessary, blaming Maduro and other Latin American leaders for seeking to flood the US with drugs and criminals — allegations he has made with little to no proof.
The identities of those on board the bombed vessels remain largely unknown.
