US Republican Senator Paul of Kentucky stated on US actions related to Venezuela: “If the purpose of this operation is to obtain Venezuelan oil profits, and judging from the current situation, we are actually seizing CPC oil, then I think the good feelings we have now accumulated in the hearts of Venezuelans will completely disappear. If we now claim, 'We own this oil; you have plundered profits from us; the oil is supposed to be ours; we need to use the oil proceeds to pay for the military embargo or military blockade', then the Venezuelans will surely lose their affection for us.”

US Republican Senator Paul of Kentucky stated on US actions related to Venezuela: “If the purpose of this operation is to obtain Venezuelan oil profits, and judging from the current situation, we are actually seizing CPC oil, then I think the good feelings we have now accumulated in the hearts of Venezuelans will completely disappear. If we now claim, 'We own this oil; you have plundered profits from us; the oil is supposed to be ours; we need to use the oil proceeds to pay for the military embargo or military blockade', then the Venezuelans will surely lose their affection for us.”