Venezuela's Maduro to Revise Relations with US after NSA Spying

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told teleSUR that his government rejected the U.S.’s spying on his country, exposed Wednesday by teleSUR and The Intercept.

The two media organizations uncovered how the U.S. National Security Agency accessed the internal communications of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and acquired sensitive data it planned to exploit in order to spy on the company’s top officials. A highly classified NSA document showed how the operation was carried out together with the U.S Embassy in Caracas.

Maduro rejected the U.S. spying on PDVSA, telling teleSUR’s Madelein Garcia that his government would write a protest message and “revise our relationship with the U.S. again.”

“U.S. imperialism, for a long time, has wanted to sabotage our petroleum industry and defeat the Bolivarian government in order to take over Venezuela’s petroleum,” Maduro said later on the public television station VTV. 

He instructed the country’s foreign minister Delcy Rodriguez to meet with the U.S. government, emphasizing that no country “has the right to intervene in the affairs of other countries.” He said he wanted her to demand an apology from the U.S. for the magnitud of their illegal actions.

Siguiendo instrucciones del Pdte @NicolasMaduro procederemos a revisión integral de las relaciones con los Estados Unidos

— Delcy Rodríguez (@DrodriguezVen) November 19, 2015

“Following the president’s instruction, we will go ahead with an integral revision of our relations with the United States”

“Why did they spy on thousands of PDVSA workers? For the economic war, persecution, to destroy (the revolution) from the inside,” Maduro said.

NEWS: Snowden Reveals Obama Ordered NSA and CIA to Spy on Venezuela

Venezuela and the U.S. have had strained and irregular relations after a series of direct and indirect interventions in Venezuela’s sovereign affairs by the U.S. The most recent frayed relations occured earlier this year when U.S. President Barack Obama issued an executive order declaring Venezuela a “threat.” Maduro told the U.S. embassy to get rid of much of its staff.

IN DEPTH: US Intelligence Spying on Venezuelan Oil Officials