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Venezuela made the request in a letter addressed to Russia's
ambassador to the U.N. and council president, Vassily Nebenzia,
that accused the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump
of seeking to topple Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and
threatening “peace, security and stability regionally and
internationally."
Maduro's government also expressed its expectation of an “armed
attack” against Venezuela in “a very short time.”
The request came a day after members of Congress voted down
legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to
use deadly military force against drug traffickers. So far, the
U.S. military has carried four deadly strikes in the Caribbean
since it increased its maritime forces for what for what Trump
has declared an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
Maduro's government, however, maintains that the White House is
using drug trafficking only as an excuse for the operation.
“The ulterior motive remains the same as that which has
characterized the United States of America’s actions toward
Venezuela for more than 26 years: to advance its ‘regime change’
policies in order to seize control of the vast natural resources
found in Venezuelan territory,” Samuel Moncada, Venezuela's
ambassador to the U.N., wrote in the letter.
Venezuela's request does not mention the nationalities of the 21
people killed in the four strikes on boats that the U.S. has
claimed to have been carrying drugs. But in mentioning the four
strikes, Venezuela's government offered the clearest
acknowledgment yet of the first attack, which it initially
doubted by arguing that a video Trump released showing the
attack had been created with artificial intelligence.
The Trump administration has said three of the targeted boats
set out to sea from Venezuela.
Russia has long been an ally of Venezuela.
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