00:00And on Monday, Venezuela's Foreign Minister, Ivan Hill, had a press conference in which he called for international compensation from
00:07Trinidad and Tobago following an oil spill off the country's coast.
00:11The minister demanded that Trinidad and Tobago provide information regarding the recent oil spill that he insisted originated from the
00:18island nation, as well as compensation for its impact on Venezuelan waters, coastlines, ecosystems, and fishing communities.
00:25The spill occurred on May 1st, 2026, and spread through the Gulf of Paria, affecting sensitive areas in the states
00:32of Sucre and del Tamacuro.
00:34Hill said that not only the spill, but also the lack of information from the Trinidadian government is extremely serious
00:40and also stated that they do not know the exact origin, volume, or type of hydrocarbon.
00:54We have conducted an exhaustive monitoring report, and must point out that between 2015 and 2023, there have been more
01:06than 876 spills of various types of hydrocarbons in the area.
01:12The government of Trinidad and Tobago is obligated to, first, immediately report to the government of Venezuela the occurrence of
01:23any spill or environmental incident,
01:26and second, provide us with information on the type of product spill and the mitigation measures taken, whether dispersants, bombarders,
01:39or the deployment of naval resources.
01:42Currently, we are working entirely without information, and they are required by international agreements.
01:56And Venezuela's foreign minister, Ivan Hill, also warned that the lack of official data from Trinidad and Tobago violates international
02:02protocols.
02:03He said that Caracas is revaluating environmental damage to activate legal mechanisms and demand financial liability.
02:12We have sent different communications to the government of Trinidad to assess the impact and, if necessary, demand as required
02:24by international agreements,
02:27the compensation to which they are obligated for this type of spill, as we have done on other occasions.
02:38And the Venezuelan foreign minister reiterated that Trinidad and Tobago must cover the total cost of the environmental recovery.
02:45He insisted on the urgency of a joint response to mitigate the eco-site in the Gulf of Padilla, issuing
02:50the following ultimatum.
02:54Once again, we call on the government of Trinidad and Tobago to take responsibility to assume its duties,
03:01and to cover the costs involved in reversing the environmental damage,
03:06so we can work together with all authorities who are in charge from the very first moment to monitor the
03:13entire situation.
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