Maduro Calls on Colombian Army to Support Venezuela in Standoff with the United States

President Nicolás Maduro has urged Colombia’s armed forces to support Venezuela if necessary in a potential confrontation with the United States.

According to the Colombian news outlet Última Hora Caracol, Maduro’s remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump accused Venezuela of stealing American assets, including oil and land.

Trump also ordered a complete blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuelan ports.

In his address, Maduro appealed directly to Colombia’s military, calling for an “ideal alliance” with Venezuela and urging them to prevent any violation of the country’s sovereignty.

“I call on Colombia’s military, whom I know very well, to form an ideal alliance with Venezuela so that no one dares to infringe on the sovereignty of our countries,” Maduro said.

The statement comes amid an increase in the U.S. military presence in the Caribbean, including near Venezuela’s coast, under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.

In a recent post, Trump stated that the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been officially designated a foreign terrorist organization. He also claimed that Venezuela is entirely surrounded by “the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America.”

Tanker seizure

On December 10, U.S. forces took full control of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.

Subsequently, media outlets reported that the United States is preparing to intercept an increasing number of sanctioned vessels transporting Venezuelan oil.

Meanwhile, one of the supertankers flying the Panamanian flag has already entered Venezuelan waters without incident.

To do so, the crew deliberately falsified data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS). According to the transmitted information, the tanker was supposedly located in a completely different region of the world.