Venezuela on Sunday complained to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) about the U.S. attempts to seize its oil through the use of military force.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez read the letter of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to OPEC members at the 192nd OPEC Conference, condemning the U.S. attempts to control the Venezuelan oil reserve by force.
In the letter, Maduro said that since August this year, U.S. President Donald Trump has continuously carried out harassment and threats against Venezuela, which has severely endangered regional and international peace, security, and stability.
Currently, the United States has deployed more than 14 warships and 15,000 military personnel in the Caribbean region, conducted over 20 attacks on so-called drug-related vessels, resulting in the extrajudicial killings of more than 80 people. It has also publicly repeated its threats to use military force against Venezuelan territory.
Such actions constitute a blatant violation of the UN Charter and other provisions of international law, said Maduro.
Venezuela has formally filed a complaint to OPEC and the OPEC+ mechanism, accusing the U.S. government of attempting to seize Venezuela's and the world’s largest oil reserves by using lethal military force against Venezuelan territory, people, and institutions.
Such acts of the United States not only violate the fundamental norms governing peaceful coexistence among nations but also seriously endanger the stability of Venezuela's oil production and the order of the international market, said Maduro.
The letter also called on oil-producing countries to establish a sovereign production alliance free from external interference.
Venezuela complains to OPEC about US attempts to seize its oil
Demonstrators from civil groups, trade unions and other communities in South Africa rallied outside the U.S. Consulate in Johannesburg on Friday, denouncing U.S. unilateral military actions against Venezuela and voicing solidarity with the Latin American nation.
They gathered along the street in front of the consulate, carrying banners that read "Hands Off Venezuela" and "Stop Imperialism," chanting slogans against U.S. hegemony and aggression.
"We are here to protest the U.S. threats to global peace, the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro Moros of Venezuela, which was done in violation of international law, in violation of territorial integrity of Venezuela, of course, in violation of national sovereignty of Venezuela," said Solly Afrika Mapaila, general secretary of the South African Communist Party.
In the early hours of Jan. 3, the United States carried out a military strike against Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, taking them to the United States.
Some protesters said the crisis in Venezuela shows how geopolitical struggles have direct and immediate effects on ordinary people's lives.
"Venezuela belongs to the people of Venezuela and nobody else. For American belligerent and colonial aggression, quite frankly, is not just something very distant. Never before have questions of geopolitics been of immediate and direct relevance and direct and immediate impacts on the day-to-day lives of ordinary people, as you are seeing today," said Mametlwe Sebei, president of the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA).
Placards at the rally blended English and Spanish slogans, while some demonstrators sang liberation songs from South Africa's anti-apartheid era to express solidarity. Passing motorists slowed in front of the consulate, honking in support.
Defying the summer heat, the crowd remained spirited and resolute, their chants echoing along the street in a clear call for an end to foreign interference and respect for Venezuela's sovereignty.
South Africans rally in solidarity with Venezuela against U.S. aggression
