Not for drug trafficking or democracy, the United States is playing pressure tactics on Venezuela because the former's eyes are set on the nation's vast oil reserves, Colombian President Gustavo Petro has alleged on Wednesday.
This statement comes amidst growing tensions between the two countries, situated across two parts of the larger American continent, as US naval activity has risen in the Caribbean and Pacific waters.
The Colombian President has alleged that oil is the major motive behind the Donald Trump administration's increasing antagonism towards the Latin American nation, and that the US President is not working towards the democratisation of Venezuela, or curbing narco-trafficking, Petro said in an exclusive interview to CNN.
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Calling the US' actions a manifestation of imperialism, Gustavo Petro told CNN that the United States "cannot be considered an empire, but one of the nations among others."
Petro has been critical of Trump ever since the Republican won his way back to the White House last year, censuring the second DJT administration's immigration policies, the US government's support for Israel in the latter's ongoing conflict with Palestine, and military activities surrounding South America.
When asked by CNN about a message that he would like to convey to the American people, the Colombian President said, "My message is the one they give to all members of the United States special forces: Your function, as they say in the oaths, is to fight against oppression. I repeated that on the streets in the United States, and it also cost me."
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Petro has denounced claims that his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro is linked to narco-trafficking, saying that no Colombian investigation has unearthed any relationship between the Colombian drug trade and Maduro.
