Venezuela denounces “piracy” after the US seized an oil tanker off its shores

The Venezuelan government said in a statement that US forces had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela “constitutes blatant theft and an act of international piracy.”

He continued: “Under these circumstances, the true reasons for the ongoing aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed…” It has always been about our natural resources“Our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people.”

Maduro had previously called on citizens to do so at a rally in Caracas Act like “warriors” and be prepared for “if necessary, break the teeth of the North American Empire“.

US forces seized the tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a significant escalation in Donald Trump’s four-month pressure campaign against the South American country’s dictator.

Trump confirmed the operation on Wednesday, declaring: “We just seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela; a large, very large oil tanker, in fact the largest ever seized.”

“It was seized for a very good reason,” the US president added, refusing to reveal the identity of the ship’s owner.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi released footage of the seizure on X. The grainy, unclassified 45-second video shows U.S. forces landing on the tanker from a helicopter.

The Venezuelan opposition leader against Nicolas Maduro’s regime, Carlos Paparoni, assured in his X account that this was the case AZURE ship. “A ship that left Venezuela with the intention Bring oil to the international black marketby evading controls and sanctions and using channels linked to criminal networks operating alongside the Nicolás Maduro regime,” he said.

However, according to maritime records, the Azure (IMO 9387255) – a crude oil tanker – is currently at high risk of Russia-related sanctions and has undergone multiple name and flag changes in East Asia.

CNN identified the seized ship as Skipper, part of the “dark fleet” sanctioned for transporting crude oil from Iran and which had recently loaded Venezuelan crude. on the way to Cuba.

Maduro has been in power since 2013, when he succeeded Hugo Chávez after he died of cancer. Widely regarded as the person responsible for rigging last year’s presidential electionMaduro has clung to power after unleashing a wave of repression that forced Edmundo González, the apparent winner of the 2024 election, into exile in Spain.

Since August, United States has offered a $50 million reward Under Maduro’s leadership, the organization has launched the largest naval operation in the Caribbean since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and carried out a series of deadly airstrikes against suspected drug ships, killing more than 80 people.

On Tuesday, two American fighter jets They flew over the Gulf of Venezuela for about 40 minutes. The plane was flying north of Maracaibo, one of Venezuela’s most populous cities.

On Wednesday, opposition leader María Corina Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize for her “tireless work to promote the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for her fight for a peaceful and fair transition from dictatorship to democracy.”