Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro speaks during a ceremony in Caracas on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, commemorating the anniversary of Simón Bolívar's death. Photo: AVN.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro responded forcefully to Donald Trump’s veiled declaration of war. The president of the US regime, in a recent rant, announced a complete blockade of oil tankers bound to and from Venezuela and claimed that Venezuela had stolen “oil, land, and other assets” from the United States. Many analysts and outlets viewed the tirade as a virtual declaration of war against Venezuela.
“The truth has been revealed,” Maduro said. These recent US actions and statements serve to demonstrate that the US narrative attempting to establish that the US military presence in the Caribbean Sea aimed to combat drug cartels or the Tren de Aragua gang has completely unraveled.
“They are attempting a regime change in Venezuela to impose a puppet government that wouldn’t last 47 hours, a government that would hand over the Constitution, sovereignty, and all the wealth, and turn Venezuela into a colony,” President Maduro stated at a televised meeting in Caracas commemorating the anniversary of Simón Bolívar’s death.
“It is simply a warmongering and colonialist claim; we have said so enough, and now everyone sees the truth,” said the Venezuelan head of state.
Regarding the announced naval blockade, President Maduro stated that “Venezuela will continue to trade all its products… trade will continue, both to and from Venezuela, of our oil and all our natural resources.” The attempted US blockade, noted President Maduro, violates international law “because it is illegal according to the Charter of the United Nations and all international agreements to attempt to impede free maritime trade on the seas and oceans of the world.”
Among numerous baseless accusations, Trump told reporters Wednesday that Venezuela had illegally seized “energy rights” and that the United States wanted them back. “We’re taking back land, oil rights, whatever we had,” said Trump. “They took it from us because we had a president who maybe wasn’t paying attention. But they’re not going to do that. We want it back. They took our oil rights. We had a lot of oil there. As you know, they kicked our companies out, and we want it back.”
Holding the Venezuelan Constitution, President Maduro responded forcefully: it is “a time for human civilization, a time of respect for international law, and Venezuela will ensure its rights are respected with force, truth, and a love for peace. We are acting within our law, and we will defend this Constitution and our people by all necessary means.”
A call to the people of Colombia
President Maduro also called for unity between Colombia and Venezuela so that “no one dares to touch the sovereignty of our countries and in order to exercise Bolívar’s dictate of permanent union and shared happiness.”
He reiterated that despite efforts to divide the two nations of Colombia and Venezuela, they remain vigilant and unified. Under the leadership of Simón Bolívar, the key figure in the liberation of much of the Americas from Spanish colonial rule, Venezuela and Colombia were united from 1819-1831 in the Republic of Gran Colombia. Gran Colombia also included mainland Ecuador, Panama, and parts of northern Peru and northwestern Brazil.
“The greatest guarantee of peace and stability is unity,” said President Maduro. “That is why today I make a Gran Colombian call to the ordinary people of Colombia, to its social movements, political forces, and its military. I call upon them for perfect unity with Venezuela.”
He reaffirmed his “deep love” for the ordinary people of Colombia, their social movements, political forces, and the military, whom he said he “knows very well.”
Controversially, Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro called Maduro a “dictator” Thursday in a social media post. He was replying to a post by CNN journalist Patricia Janiot questioning him for labeling Chilean President-elect Jose Kast a fascist.
“Maduro is a ‘dictator’ for concentrating powers; there is no evidence in Colombia that he is a ‘narco.’ That is a US narrative,” wrote Petro. “Kast is the son and believer of the Nazis. He belongs to the German generation that escaped from Germany not to save themselves from Hitler but to save themselves from Hitler’s defeat, which is very, very different.”
Many analysts see this as part of Petro’s attempt to ease tensions with the United States, which has also threatened action against Colombia for allegedly being a narco-terrorist state. These analysts claim that President Petro is trying to please a US government whom they describe as delusional. These analysts also note that the US will never abandon its attempt to destroy any progressive project in what it considers its “backyard.”
New extrajudicial execution
Also on Thursday, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) reported a new strike against a small boat in Eastern Caribbean waters, killing four civilians under the controversial US Operation Southern Spear.
To date, 99 unidentified civilians have been killed by the US military in actions labeled by some US legal and military experts and by the United Nations as extrajudicial executions and war crimes.
A Unified Venezuela Strongly Condemns US Threat of Blockade, Gains International Backing
According to research carried out independently by Orinoco Tribune, this latest execution is the 26th since September 2, and the number of civilians killed in the Eastern Pacific has now surpassed those killed in the Caribbean Sea. A total of 51 civilians have been killed in the Eastern Pacific (52% of the total), while 48 have been killed in the Caribbean Sea (48%).
This data supports claims by Venezuela and international organizations that the Caribbean Sea operation is unjustified if the real goal is a “war on drugs,” as more than 80% of the cocaine produced in Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia is transported via the Pacific Ocean to the United States. A total of 15 strikes have been executed in the Eastern Pacific compared to 11 in the Caribbean Sea.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
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