Caracas, Dec 30 (EFE). – Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Armed Forces is monitoring the Ana María Campos Petrochemical Complex in Zulia state (bordering Colombia) and the Paraguaná Refining Center in Falcón (west), amid tensions over the US air and naval deployment in the Caribbean Sea.
The head of the Western Strategic Region of Integral Defense (Redi) 1, Pedro González Ovalles, indicated that a Rapid Reaction Unit (URRA) remains deployed to “guarantee the integral security” of the complex and the refinery, according to a video shared Tuesday by the FANB’s strategic operational commander, Domingo Hernández Lárez.
The Paraguaná Refining Center is “one of the largest in the world, responsible for transforming crude oil into gasoline, diesel, asphalt, and other derivatives” in Venezuela, according to the Ministry of Hydrocarbons.
The Ana María Campos Petrochemical Complex, which includes facilities for fertilizer and plastics production, was built in 1976.
The US has maintained a military deployment in the Caribbean Sea since August, justified as part of its fight against drug trafficking, but Venezuela has interpreted it as an attempt to bring about regime change.
The Venezuelan Executive Vice President and Minister of Hydrocarbons, Delcy Rodríguez, has made several calls to oil industry workers to be alert in a context in which she claims Venezuela “is being harassed and threatened” for its energy and natural resources.
Rodríguez also recently urged workers in the sector to be extremely vigilant at the country’s oil facilities and to remain alert to any attempts at “sabotage.”
In December, the United States seized two ships carrying Venezuelan crude oil, and US President Donald Trump announced a total blockade on sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, which has increased pressure on Maduro’s government in recent weeks.
The US president also announced on Friday an attack on a “large facility” at a dock as part of his campaign against drug trafficking, which he said originates in Venezuela, but did not specify whether the attack took place on Venezuelan territory.
According to a report in The New York Times on Monday, the US Central Intelligence Agency carried out a drone attack on a port facility in Venezuela last week. However, the Venezuelan government has not yet commented on this matter. EFE
rbc/mcd
