[News] Venezuela charges Washington with ‘theft, piracy’ after seizure of oil tanker

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Venezuela charges Washington with ‘theft, piracy’ after seizure of oil
tanker

The US had imposed sanctions on the vessel under claims it was involved in
the Iranian oil trade

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

DEC 11, 2025 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/venezuela-charges-washington-with-theft-piracy-after-seizure-of-oil-tanker
(Photo credit: Bloomberg)

Venezuela has accused the US government of “blatant theft” and “piracy,”
following Washington’s seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker off the Latin
American country’s coast on 10 December.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry strongly condemned
<https://www.telesurtv.net/venezuela-robo-petrolero-eeuu-caribe/> 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
<https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-administration-seizes-oil-tanker-off-venezuela-coast-us-officials-say-2025-12-10/>
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 <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/2345>.

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
<https://thecradle.co/articles/nearly-half-of-us-citizens-oppose-airstrikes-on-alleged-drug-boats-poll>
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.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20251211/355e46f6/attachment.htm>