High-Ranking Venezuelan Official Warns U.S. Military Pressure Seeks to 'Kill Venezuelan Identity Itself'

Venezuela's Minister of Culture, Ernesto Villegas, warned that growing U.S. military pressure in the Caribbean is part of a broader campaign to "erase Venezuela's identity and culture," in an interview with the Sputnik news agency.

Villegas said that what he called an "imperialist siege" goes beyond political and economic measures, arguing that Venezuela faces a "cultural assault" intended to undermine its national identity. "The siege on countries that imperialism seeks to dominate is not only cultural but essentially cultural," he said. "Physical assassination is preceded by moral assassination. The goal is to kill Venezuela — even Venezuelan identity itself."

Villegas, who previously served as Minister of Communications and has been one of the most recognizable faces in the Chavismo movement over the last decade, said the government views the recent deployment of U.S. naval forces in the Caribbean as part of this broader pressure campaign. The Trump administration has stationed at least three guided-missile destroyers, a fast-attack submarine, and several thousand troops in the region as part of ongoing counter-narcotics operations.

Washington has said the moves target Latin American drug cartels, while Venezuelan officials view them as a potential threat to sovereignty.

During the sprawling interview, Villegas also drew parallels to U.S. policy before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying that stigmatizing Venezuela's image internationally is meant to justify aggressive actions. "There is a systematic effort to stigmatize the word Venezuela and Venezuelans everywhere," he said, claiming the country faces attempts to diminish its contributions to universal and Latin American culture.

He criticized restrictions on Venezuelan cultural content abroad, citing reports from Uruguay where users were temporarily blocked from accessing an online guide to Venezuelan films. "When access to a country's cultural expressions is blocked, humanity itself is diminished," Villegas said, comparing the incident to what he sees as a coordinated effort to erase Venezuelan cultural heritage.

Villegas said Venezuela will propose new international protections for cultural heritage at the upcoming World Conference on Cultural Policy in Barcelona, arguing that existing frameworks, such as UNESCO's Hague Convention of 1954, do not sufficiently address non-military coercion.

"The defense of sovereignty is not just territorial; it also includes defending our cultural identity and diversity," Villegas said. "Uniformity erases difference and leads to conflict. Venezuela defends the diversity of cultures that define humanity."