Venezuela accuses US of ‘piracy’ after oil tanker seized

The Venezuelan government has condemned the seizure of an oil tanker in the Caribbean and accused the United States of “blatant theft” and “international piracy.” President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday (12/10) that military forces seized the ship off the coast of Venezuela “for good reason.” Watch the video of the action:

The government of Nicolas Maduro claims that by confessing to the attack, Trump admits that the objective of the American military operation “has always been to appropriate Venezuelan oil without paying any compensation, clearly showing that the policy of aggression against our country is part of a deliberate plan to plunder our energy resources.”

According to the Attorney General of the United States, Pamela Bondi, the military operation was used to obtain a seizure warrant against the tanker, accused of transporting “sanctioned oil” from Venezuela and Iran.

According to Bondi, the tanker has been under sanctions for several years for its participation in an illicit oil transport network aimed at financing organizations considered terrorist by the US government. The operation, carried out off the coast of Venezuela, was described as “safe and secure”.

This affair further increases pressure from Washington against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. In mid-August, Trump ordered the start of a massive U.S. military mobilization on the outskirts of the Venezuelan coast to “fight drug cartels” and contain trafficking into the United States.

In a statement, Venezuela said the seizure of the tanker showed that “the true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed.” “It’s not about migration. It’s not about drug trafficking. It’s not about democracy. It’s not about human rights. It’s still about our natural wealth, our oil, our energy, resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people,” the government says.

View the full note from the Venezuelan government, translated into Portuguese:

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela strongly denounces and condemns what constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy, publicly announced by the President of the United States, who confessed to the attack on an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. This isn’t the first time he’s admitted it; During his 2024 campaign, he openly declared that his goal has always been to appropriate Venezuelan oil without paying any compensation, clarifying that the policy of aggression against our country is part of a deliberate plan to plunder our energy resources.

This new criminal act is added to the theft of Citgo, an important asset of the strategic patrimony of all Venezuelans, seized by fraudulent judicial mechanisms and outside the limits of any legal framework.

Humanity is waking up and fighting against the imperialist abuses of the North, as demonstrated by the numerous and well-attended demonstrations in several American states and European cities. The Venezuelan people also held a resounding demonstration in the streets of Venezuela to defend the peace of our country.

Under these circumstances, the real reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed. It’s not about migration. This is not about drug trafficking. This is not about democracy. This is not about human rights. It has always been about our natural wealth, our oil, our energy, resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people.

We also denounce this act of piracy as an attempt to divert attention and conceal the resounding failure of the political spectacle organized today in Oslo, where the manipulations and lack of results of those who have been seeking, for years without success, an operation of “regime change” through violence and in open complicity with Western governments have once again been revealed.

Venezuela calls on all Venezuelans to remain firm in the defense of their homeland and urges the international community to reject this vandalistic, illegal and unprecedented aggression, which they seek to normalize as an instrument of pressure and plunder.

The Bolivarian Government reaffirms that it will appeal to all existing international organizations to denounce this serious international crime and that it will defend with absolute determination its sovereignty, its natural resources and its national dignity. Venezuela will not allow any foreign power to attempt to deprive the Venezuelan people of what is theirs by virtue of their historical and constitutional rights.

The American army in Venezuela

In August, Trump ordered a massive military deployment to the Caribbean region, including warships, advanced fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, the world’s largest.

The Republican says this action targets drug cartels that operate in the region and send narcotics to the United States. Nicolás Maduro, for example, is accused by Washington of leading the Los Soles cartel, recently classified as an international terrorist organization.

Based on these accusations, Trump has already signaled that Venezuela could be the target of new military operations, under the pretext of combating terrorism associated with international trafficking.