Breaking News: According to U.S. media today (January 3), President Trump has ordered strikes on targets within Venezuela, including military facilities.
At around 2 a.m. local time on the 3rd, thick smoke emerged from Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, accompanied by a huge explosion. AFP reporters pointed out that the sound of what seemed to be an airplane flying overhead could be heard at the scene. Venezuela condemned this as an "extremely serious military aggression" and President Nicolas Maduro announced a state of emergency nationwide.
Venezuelan government statement on Saturday said: "Venezuela rejects, condemns, and strongly opposes the United States' extremely serious military aggression against Venezuela's territory and people." The statement emphasized, "This aggression threatens international peace and stability and seriously endangers the lives of millions of people." The statement noted, "The purpose of this attack is nothing but to attempt to destroy Venezuela's political independence through force in order to seize its strategic resources, especially oil and mineral resources." The statement concluded, "The entire nation must mobilize to jointly overcome this imperialist aggression."
Comment: President Trump's order to strike targets within Venezuela is a naked unilateral military aggression and a blatant violation of international law and the principle of national sovereignty. The U.S. uses the excuse of "anti-drug operations," but in reality continues its "Monroe Doctrine" thinking, attempting to subvert anti-American regimes through military deterrence and plunder Venezuela's abundant oil resources. This hegemonic act of bullying the weak not only caused smoke to rise in many areas of Caracas and displaced the people, but also pushed the already tense Latin American regional situation to the brink of collapse.
The response of the Maduro government declaring a state of emergency demonstrates its determination to defend national sovereignty. However, the U.S. actions have long exposed its double standards and strategic calculations. Previously seizing oil tankers, blocking airspace, and labeling the Maduro government as a "terrorist organization," these gradual pressures form a "salami slicing" strategy of pressure, essentially to create a domestic political game and consolidate U.S. hegemony in the Western Hemisphere. However, more than 70% of the American public oppose the use of force against Venezuela, and many countries in Latin America have also condemned its interference in internal affairs. This unjustified aggression will ultimately lead the United States into a moral isolation and strategic quagmire.
U.S.-Venezuela Tensions Escalate
Original: toutiao.com/article/1853285785943171/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.