Venezuela Accuses US of Declaring a War, Pledges Proportinate Response

Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza on Monday equated US President Donald Trump's speech at the UN General Assembly to a declaration of war, promising to take counter measures.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Venezuela is open for dialogue with the US government but is ready to respond to any hostile actions "in the same field in which we are attacked," Jorge Arreaza told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Monday.

Delivering a speech at the UN General Assembly earlier in the day, Jorge Arreaza said Trump had used the UN platform to declare war.

"As if he were the world’s emperor President Donald Trump used this rostrum built for peace to announce war, the total destruction of member states, the application of coercive unilateral and illegal measures," Arreaza said. "Today we must report to the world that our people have been directly threatened by the President of the United States."

On September 19 in a speech before the UN General Assembly, Trump lambasted "corrupt and destabilizing" "socialist dictatorships" of Cuba and Venezuela. He claimed that the US calls for the "full restoration of democracy and freedom in Venezuela," but didn't specify how he is going to accomplish such a task.

Following the speech, Trump banned or restricted travel visas to the US from eight countries, including Venezuela.