BOGOTA, Colombia

Venezuela’s permanent representative to the United Nations denounced the seizure of oil tankers by US forces during an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

Describing the actions as “state piracy,” Samuel Moncada argued that the maneuvers represent a modern evolution of maritime crime orchestrated by a sovereign power.

Moncada asserted that the administration of President Donald Trump is seeking total control over Venezuela’s territory, oil reserves and mineral wealth under the explicit threat of armed intervention.

“Today the masks have come off,” he said. “All the toxic excuses used to poison public opinion are confronted with a harsh reality: senior US officials announcing their real objectives. It is not drugs, it is not security, it is not freedom. It is oil, it is mines and it is land.”

The ambassador characterized these demands as a “confession of the crime of aggression” and an attempt at colonial annexation that revives the Monroe Doctrine. He warned the Council that Venezuela is merely the “first target” of a broader geopolitical plan to dominate Latin America.

Moncada further argued that the current naval blockade is a calculated military act intended to lay siege to the nation to degrade its economic and military capabilities, erode social cohesion to facilitate internal chaos and provoke an external armed attack by creating a state of vulnerability.

He also leveled a serious accusation regarding airspace safety, claiming that US military forces are conducting an electronic warfare campaign in the region. He alleged that US personnel are deliberately "blinding" the navigation instruments of civilian aircraft transiting Venezuelan airspace. Moncada cited at least two "near-miss" incidents where US civilian planes were seconds away from colliding with their own country’s military aircraft due to this interference.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, who spoke earlier, said Washington will enforce “maximum” sanctions to deprive the government of President Nicolas Maduro of resources it claimed were being used to fund criminal networks.

Waltz specifically linked oil revenues to the Cartel de los Soles and Tren de Aragua, both of which the US has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).

“The United States will enforce sanctions to the maximum extent to deprive Maduro of the resources he uses to fund the Cartel de los Soles,” Waltz stated. “This includes profits from the sale of oil used to finance these cartels.”

Waltz reiterated that Trump has been “very clear” in his intent to use the full strength of the United States to eradicate drug cartels that have operated with impunity in the hemisphere. He described the sanctioned oil tankers as the "primary economic lifeline" for what he termed an "illegitimate regime."

Tensions between the two countries remain at a breaking point as the US continues its "maximum pressure" campaign, while Venezuela seeks international intervention from the UN Security Council to halt what it describes as "state-sponsored extortion."

The emergency debate was convened at the request of Venezuela following the implementation of a US blockade against sanctioned tankers.