Sheinbaum urges UN to ‘prevent bloodshed’ after Trump orders Venezuela blockade

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has urged the United Nations to “prevent any bloodshed” in Venezuela, as Donald Trump piled more pressure on the South American country.

“The United Nations has been conspicuously absent. It must assume its role to prevent any bloodshed and to always seek the peaceful resolution of conflicts,” the leftwing president told reporters the morning after Washington announced a blockade of “sanctioned oil tankers” entering or leaving Venezuela.

The United States has for months been building a major military deployment in the Caribbean with the stated goal of combatting Latin American drug trafficking.

Caracas views the operation as a campaign to push out leftist strongman Nicolás Maduro – whom the US and many nations view as an illegitimate president – and to “steal” Venezuelan oil.

Sheinbaum said that regardless of “opinions” about the leadership of Maduro, Mexico’s position is to reject “foreign interference”.

“We call for dialogue and peace to be used in any international dispute, and not intervention. That is our position by conviction and by our constitution,” she added.

Sheinbaum called for de-escalation and offered Mexico as a venue for any potential negotiations or meetings between Venezuela and the US.

“The entire world must ensure that there is no intervention and that there is a peaceful solution,” she added.

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven reserves of oil, and although years of mismanagement and corruption have inflicted severe damage to its oil industry, oil exports remain Venezuela’s main source of revenue.

China also expressed support, as foreign minister Wang Yi told his Venezuelan counterpart that Beijing opposes “unilateral bullying” and supports countries in safeguarding their own sovereignty.

China is the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude, buying about 80% of its exports – although Venezuelan supply accounts for only about 4% of its total crude imports.

Last week, US forces seized a tanker in the Caribbean Sea that was carrying Venezuelan oil for Cuba and China.

Wang said in a phone call with Venezuelan foreign minister Yván Gil that China and Venezuela are strategic partners and that mutual trust and support are a tradition of bilateral ties, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

“China believes the international community understands and supports Venezuela’s position in defending its legitimate rights and interests,” he said.

Chile’s hard-right president-elect José Antonio Kast on Tuesday said that he would back efforts to end Maduro’s “dictatorship”, expanding Trump’s support base in the region at a time when he is considering strikes on Venezuelan territory.

The US embassy in Quito announced Wednesday that US air force personnel were in Ecuador’s Pacific port city of Manta for “a temporary operation with the Ecuadorian air force”. It did not specify how many people or equipment had been deployed.

Strikes on three alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean killed eight people on Monday, according to the US military, the latest in a controversial campaign that has killed dozens of people.

Since early September, the US military has targeted alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, destroying at least 26 small vessels and killing at least 95 people.