Credit: scmwiki2012.wordpress.com/  The Venezuelan military has vowed to escort Iranian tankers delivering a crucial supply of petrol to the country to foil any attempt by the US to stop them.

By Gary Raynaldo       DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Five Iranian tankers loaded with badly-needed fuel shipments are heading toward Venezuela.  The shipments from the Islamic Republic of Iran has ignited fears of a military confrontation. There has been talk that the U.S., which has slapped crippling sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, may attempt to halt the fuel shipments. To that end, the Venezuelan military is vowing to escort the Iranian tankers to the country to foil any attempt by the U.S. to stop them.  Iran has also warned America that it will retaliate against any actions against its fuel shipments. Venezuela is in the grip of a deepening economic crisis compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Venezuela Ambassador Urges UN Security Council To Intervene In Situation 

Credit: Gary Raynaldo / © Diplomatic Times  / Samuel Moncada, Permanent Representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the United Nations at press conference at UN world headquarters Jul. 12, 2019.

Venezuela’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, addressed members of the  UN Security Council Wednesday, calling out the U.S. for its ‘illegitimate” actions against the  Latin American nation. 

“The U.S. government has openly admitted to exert pressure on companies to refrain from supplying gasoline to Venezuela, thus, resulting in the current shortages that exist today throughout the country. In this context, allow me to pose the following question: what would happen if, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York is deliberately left without gasoline? This would, indeed, account to a crime against humanity, which is precisely what the government of President Donald Trump is perpetrating against thirty (30) million Venezuelans. Today, the coercion is coupled with a new peril: the threat of use of military force against five (05) Iranian tankers with fuel that are en route to Venezuela, in violation, amongst others, of freedom of trade and navigation. In case the threat is materialized, it would constitute an actual armed aggression against a civilian Iranian vessel and against the Venezuelan people as a whole.”

-Venezuela’s permanent representative to the UN, Samuel Moncada. 

The Government of Venezuela sent a letter to the UN Security Council earlier this month alleging  that “armed groups of mercenaries and terrorists” illegally entered the country on 3 and 4 May in an attempt to assassinate President Maduro and other high officials. The UN Security Council on Wednesday held an open videoconference (VTC) meeting on the situation in Venezuela.  The meeting was requested by Russia in response to  the letter Venezuela sent to the Security Council on 13 May.

U.S. Ambassador to  UN  Blasts Letter From The “Illegitimate Maduro Regime”

Credit:  Gary Raynaldo / © Diplomatic Times /   Kelly Knight Craft,  United States Ambassador to United Nations 

“The letter from the illegitimate Maduro regime that prompted today’s meeting is – as such letters always are – a long-winded compilation of fantastical accusations and demonstrable falsehoods. Unfortunately, for the second time in less than a month our Russian colleagues have indulged their client regime’s habit of blaming others for its appalling choices. We encourage the Council to look closely into the role of the Maduro regime in creating this supposed crisis, and especially into interference by the vast Cuban intelligence apparatus in Venezuela. Furthermore, we reiterate President Juan Guaido’s call for unbiased investigations into the roundups, extrajudicial killings, and torture that have resulted from Maduro’s repression.”

–Kelly Knight Craft,  United States Ambassador to United Nations  – May 20, 2020

 Venezuela Says US Actions Violate International law -Appeals to  ICC 

Jorge Arreaza, Venezuela’s foreign minister, said this week that Caracas intends to take their oil trade issues with the US to the International Criminal Court (ICC).