The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it said was a “blatant theft and an act of international piracy, publicly announced by the President of the US, who confessed to the assault on an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea.”
“Already in his 2024 campaign, [US President Donald Trump] openly stated that his objective has always been to keep Venezuelan oil without paying any consideration in return, making it clear that the policy of aggression against our country responds to a deliberate plan to plunder our energy wealth,” the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry added.
“The true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed. It is not migration. It is not narcotics trafficking. It is not democracy. It is not human rights. It has always been about our natural wealth,” the statement went on to say.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez also condemned Washington’s theft of the oil tanker.
“Cuba expresses its full support for the denunciation issued by the government of Venezuela and strongly condemns the assault on an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, carried out by the Armed Forces of the United States. This constitutes an act of piracy, a violation of international law, and an escalation in the aggression against that sister nation,” he said.
The US announced the seizure on Wednesday. The move caused a jump in oil prices and has fanned the flames of an already tense situation between Caracas and Washington – which has recently targeted the Latin American country with brutal strikes under the pretext of stopping the flow of drugs into the US.
Video footage of the seizure showed armed US soldiers descending onto the vessel from a helicopter. The Venezuelan oil tanker was subject to illegal US sanctions.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening,” US President Donald Trump said.
US officials did not specify the name of the Venezuelan oil tanker.
UK maritime risk management company Vanguard said the ‘Skipper’ tanker was taken early on Wednesday. It was under sanctions for alleged involvement in the Iranian oil trade.
The seizure mirrors Washington’s policy regarding the natural resources of West Asia over the years.
After the launch of the US-led military coalition in Syria in 2014, US forces occupied the country’s oil fields and began a systematic campaign of looting.
The Oil Ministry of Syria’s former government said years ago that the country’s energy sector incurred over $100 billion in losses due to the US looting campaign.
Washington has also seized numerous Iranian oil tankers under the pretext of enforcing sanctions.
The seizure of the Venezuelan tanker comes as part of a massive military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and recent airstrikes on what Washington claims are “drug boats” responsible for the flow of Fentanyl into the US.
At least 87 people, among them innocent fishermen from Colombia, Ecuador, and Trinidad and Tobago, have been killed by the US attacks since September.