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New Delhi: Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez has launched a sharp attack on the United States, accusing Washington of masking its true intentions behind what she called “false” narratives on drug trafficking, democracy and human rights. Addressing the Venezuelan Parliament, Rodríguez said these claims have repeatedly been deployed to justify pressure on Caracas, while the real objective has always been control over the country’s vast energy resources.
Her comments came days after US President Donald Trump claimed that Washington was receiving full cooperation from Venezuela’s leadership and would exercise long-term political influence over the oil-rich nation. Trump also suggested that the US would play a dominant role in managing Venezuela’s oil reserves for years to come.
In a video address that has since gone viral, Rodríguez described Venezuela as a global energy powerhouse whose resources have attracted persistent external interference. She said the “energy greed of the North” had created serious challenges for the country and accused powerful nations of seeking to extract Venezuelan oil under the guise of moral and political concerns.
According to Rodríguez, allegations related to human rights abuses, democratic backsliding and drug trafficking were never the core issue. Instead, she argued, these narratives were used as excuses to push a longstanding demand that Venezuela’s oil be handed over to developed economies in the global North.
Despite the confrontational tone, Rodríguez stressed that Caracas is not opposed to cooperation with the United States or other countries. She said Venezuela remains open to energy relations that are mutually beneficial, legally grounded and clearly defined through commercial contracts.
She reiterated that diversity in energy partnerships is central to Venezuela’s policy and said cooperation must respect national sovereignty and international law. Rodríguez also defended earlier moves to open parts of Venezuela’s oil sector to Washington, calling trade with the US “not unusual or irregular” despite strained diplomatic ties.
Rodríguez said relations with Washington were severely damaged after what she described as a US-backed attempt to remove former president Nicolás Maduro, leaving a lasting “stain” on bilateral ties. Her comments followed reports that US forces had seized two sanctions-hit tankers and that the US administration intended to oversee global sales of Venezuela’s future crude production.
Caracas, she insisted, would engage internationally only on terms that safeguard its resources and sovereignty.
