Venezuela has accused Washington of piracy after the US Coast Guard and law enforcement agencies seized a sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea.
On Wednesday, US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the captured ship was transporting oil from Venezuela and Iran in violation of sanctions.
Caracas denounced the move, arguing that the operation was aimed at stealing the country’s resources. The seizure “constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy,” the Venezuelan government said in a statement.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto said America’s goal “has always been to seize Venezuelan oil… as part of a deliberate plan to plunder our energy resources.”
The Venezuelan government condemned Washington’s “imperial abuses” and vowed to “defend with absolute determination its sovereignty, its natural resources, and its national dignity.”
News outlets identified the vessel as The Skipper, a Guyana-flagged tanker sanctioned by the US in 2022 for allegedly supplying oil to Iran and Hezbollah. The ship was named Adisa when it was sanctioned.
According to Reuters, the ship left Venezuela’s Puerto Jose December 4-5 after loading around 1.1 million barrels of crude oil.
Venezuela has long denounced US sanctions as illegal under international law. President Nicolas Maduro has argued that the sanctions are part of US President Donald Trump’s plan to topple him. Maduro has rejected Trump’s claims that he supports drug cartels and warned against starting “a crazy war.”