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Venezuela’s acting president defends country’s territory and rejects Trump’s 51st state remarks

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Venezuela ’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez told journalists Monday that her country had no plans to become the 51st U.S. state after President Donald Trump said he was “seriously considering” the move.

Rodríguez was speaking at the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the final day of hearings in a dispute between her country and neighboring Guyana over the massive mineral- and oil-rich Essequibo region.

“We will continue to defend our integrity, our sovereignty, our independence, our history,” said Rodríguez, who assumed power in January following a U.S. military operation that ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro. Venezuela is “not a colony, but a free country,” she added.

Speaking to Fox News earlier on Monday, Trump said he was “seriously considering making Venezuela the 51st US state,” according to a post by Fox News’ co-anchor John Roberts on social media. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.

Trump has made similar comments about Canada.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly later declined to comment on Trump’s plans in an interview of her own with Roberts on Fox News. Kelly said the president is “famous for never accepting the status quo,” and praised Rodríguez for “working incredibly cooperatively” with the U.S.

Rodríguez went on to say that Venezuelan and U.S. officials have been in touch and are working on “cooperation and understanding.”

Before addressing Trump’s comments, Rodríguez defended her country’s claim to Essequibo at the United Nations’ highest court, telling judges that political negotiations — not a judicial ruling — will resolve the century-old territorial dispute.

The 62,000-square-mile territory, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana, is rich in gold, diamonds, timber and other natural resources. It also sits near massive offshore oil deposits currently producing an average 900,000 barrels a day.

That output is close to Venezuela’s daily production of about 1 million barrels a day and has transformed one of the smallest countries in South America into a significant energy producer.

Venezuela has considered Essequibo its own since the Spanish colonial period, when the jungle region fell within its boundaries. But an 1899 decision by arbitrators from Britain, Russia and the United States drew the border along the Essequibo River largely in favor of Guyana.

Venezuela has argued that a 1966 agreement sealed in Geneva to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the 19th-century arbitration. In 2018, however, three years after ExxonMobil announced a significant oil discovery off the Essequibo coast, Guyana’s government went to the International Court of Justice and asked judges to uphold the 1899 ruling.

Tensions between the countries further flared in 2023, when Rodríguez’s predecessor, Maduro, threatened to annex the region by force after holding a referendum asking voters if Essequibo should be turned into a Venezuelan state. Maduro was captured Jan. 3 during a U.S. military operation in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, and taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

Rodríguez did not address the referendum in her remarks, but she told the court that the 1966 agreement is designed to allow negotiations between Venezuela and Guyana to resolve the territorial dispute. And she accused Guyana’s government of undermining the agreement with the “opportunistic” decision to ask the court to address the dispute.

“At a time when the mechanisms established in the Geneva agreement were still fully in force, Guyana unilaterally chose to shift the dispute from the negotiating arena to a judicial resolution,” she said. “This change was not accidental; it coincided with the discovery in 2015 of the oil field that would become world-renowned.”

When hearings opened last week, Guyana’s foreign minister, Hugh Hilton Todd, told the panel of international judges that the dispute “has been a blight on our existence as a sovereign state from the very beginning.” He said that 70% of Guyana’s territory is at stake.

The court is likely to take months to issue a final and legally binding ruling in the case.

Venezuela has warned that its participation in the hearings does not mean either consent to, or recognition of, the court’s jurisdiction.

https://apnews.com/article/venezuel...ump-oil-89f55dc0049617e81bfbad49c4bed777

I suppose when his initial opponent didn't end up being so easy to push around he felt the need to find a weaker target.

Anything for Oil....

Greenland, no no I can't have it. They screwed me out of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Canada, I think I want it. Why not?

Cuba, oh I would like Cuba. Close Mar a large oo.

Venezuela mmm I love oil. Look Alcatraz can I have that?

What can I have my name on. How about passports?

Kim Jong Un what a swell guy. I wanna be Putin. Nap time.

JC

Only idiots thought he was being serious.

Carry on.

Well that used to be the case - but Trump says and then does more and more idiotic things. So that old troupe is a wearing thin.

And what do you call someone who routinely enables and overlooks a POTUS that continually says moronic things?

Obviously.

Only idiots elect a man that says stupid nonsensical things on a consistent basis. These countries have no idea if trump is being serious or not if you look at his track record.

He is the same person that said if you elected the democrats they would start a war in the middle east but not if you elected him because he was a president of peace. He even pointed out that he didn't start any wars in his first term to back up what he was saying.

I suppose only idiots thought he was being serious then too?

That's been the standard line every time this fool says something stupid. Which is almost daily. "He was just joking." He wasn't being serious."

And you people keep repeating that BS. Right up until he actually tries to do it.

If he's got jokes, he should work on his timing, delivery and quality of material.
Other heads of state use humor, but I can't recall a single one of them joking about annexing another sovereign state as a punch line.

A good comic knows to "read the room." In his case, "the room" just happens to be the entire world.
Not very smart to drop a joke on a room of 8.7 billion people that only 40-60 million will laugh at.

.02

Unfortunately, the world is full of idiots, and Trump is one of them.

Don't look at me. I'm not teaching him

Lots of giggles from countries who get threatened.

Then why did he send envoys to Canada and Greenland and now Cuba?

I think he means it.. I think he wants Greenland and Canada and my guess is wants Cuba as well....

He wants to add states,,, Ok, start with Puerto Rico and Washington DC.

It's almost like people that don't believe him have to be idiots?

That's what they do every time this idiot does or says something foolish. "He didn't mean it!" He was only joking!" "He's just pwning the libs!"

They come up with some lame excuse every time. And just remember, these are the same people who claim to be the party of personal responsibility. Or at least they used to.