The Cuban Government “strongly” condemned and called the confiscation by the United States of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela an “act of piracy,” amid tensions between Washington and Caracas.
“This constitutes an act of piracy, a violation of International Law and an escalation in aggression against that brother country,” said the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, on social networks.
In his message he expressed his “total support” for the Venezuelan Government’s complaint and “strongly” condemned the seizure of the oil tanker that occurred on Wednesday.
We strongly denounce the aggressive escalation of the government of #USA against #Venezuela.
We condemn the vile act of piracy and the seizure by that country’s military forces of a ship with Venezuelan oil, which contravenes the rules of free trade and… pic.twitter.com/ehULl25ZRA
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) December 11, 2025
Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez, also denounced what he considered “a vile act of piracy,” which “contravenes the rules of free trade and freedom of navigation, in clear violation of International Law.”
“We strongly denounce the aggressive escalation of the US government against Venezuela,” said the Cuban Foreign Minister.
US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that his country had intercepted and confiscated an oil tanker off Venezuela, raising tensions between Washington and Caracas.
According to the newspaper The New York Timesthe oil tanker, named Skipper, which was sailing under a false flag, was seized by order of a judge for its previous links with Iranian oil smuggling, sanctioned by Washington, although on this occasion it was transporting Venezuelan crude.
PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company, works on drilling tasks with the American company Chevron, which has a license from the Treasury Department that exempts it from sanctions.
Washington accuses Nicolás Maduro of leading an international drug trafficking network as the alleged leader of the Cartel of the Suns, something that Caracas categorically denies.
Since September, the US Armed Forces have destroyed more than twenty vessels supposedly loaded with drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific, extrajudicially killing more than 80 crew members.
US seizes Venezuelan oil ship in unprecedented escalation against Maduro
Trump has promised that attacks within Venezuelan territory will begin “soon,” while Maduro has called on his citizens to unite against US threats and enlist in citizen militias.
The Cuban Government, a historical ally of Venezuela, has warned since the beginning of the tensions that “what it considers to be “pretexts” from the United States for an eventual military aggression against Venezuela “cannot be accepted legally or morally.”
Efe/OnCuba.
