By Raul Cortes and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez
MEXICO CITY/SAO PAULO, Dec 17 (Reuters) – The presidents of Latin America’s two largest countries urged restraint on Wednesday in the face of escalating actions from the United States toward regional neighbor Venezuela.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a blockade of all oil tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela, a move that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called a “grotesque threat.”
Trump’s administration has moved thousands of troops and nearly a dozen warships – including an aircraft carrier – to the region, spiking tensions. Maduro’s government has rejected Trump’s moves and has alleged that the U.S. military aims to control Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
SHEINBAUM CALLS FOR UN ACTION
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, at her morning press conference, called for dialogue and asked the United Nations to act to prevent violence in Venezuela.
“I call on the United Nations to fulfill its role. It has not been present. It must assume its role to prevent any bloodshed,” she said, reiterating Mexico’s position of being against intervention and foreign interference in Venezuela.
Sheinbaum also offered Mexico as a host for any potential negotiations or meetings between the two countries.
“The entire world must ensure that there is no intervention and that there is a peaceful solution,” she added.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also called for peace in the region.
“I am concerned about President Trump’s attitudes towards Latin America, about the threats,” Lula said at a ministerial meeting, adding that he urged dialogue between Caracas and Washington in a call with Trump this month.
“The power of the word can outweigh the power of the gun … I said to Trump: ‘If you are interested in talking to Venezuela properly, we can contribute. Now, you have to be willing to talk, you have to be patient,'” Lula said.
Lula and Sheinbaum made the comments hours before Trump was set to address Americans on Wednesday evening from the White House.
The two leftist presidents have both been closely engaged in trade negotiations with the Trump administration, and both have achieved a relatively positive rapport with the U.S. leader.
In a statement shared by his spokesperson on Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the immediate de-escalation of tensions between the United States and Venezuela, asking both countries to “honor their obligations under international law, including the U.N. Charter and any other applicable legal framework to safeguard peace in the region.”
Guterres repeated calls for de-escalation in a phone call with Maduro on Wednesday, the Venezuelan government said in a statement.
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez Fernandez, Raul Cortes Fernandes, Ana Isabel Martinez, and Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle, Cassandra Garrison, Rod Nickel)
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