The United States Coast Guard, with support from the War Department, this Saturday assaulted an oil tanker that had last docked in Venezuela. The incident adds to the campaign of aggression against the nation, denounced by Caracas as an act of piracy.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem confirmed the operation carried out before dawn on December 20 through a post on the X network, noting that Washington will continue to “pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil.”
The ship, identified as Centuries and flying the flag of Panama, has a length of 333 meters and a beam of 58 meters. This is the second ship stolen in less than two weeksalthough unlike the first, this one did not appear on Washington’s sanctions lists.
President Nicolás Maduro described the action as an “absolutely criminal and illegal act,” accusing the White House of acting “like pirates of the Caribbean against a commercial, civil, private ship, a ship of peace.”
Escalation of aggressions in the Caribbean
The incident occurs days after US President Donald Trump ordered the total and complete blockade of the entry and exit of sanctioned oil tankers in Venezuela.
Maduro denounced that these measures are part of a multidimensional campaign of aggression that includes psychological terrorism, piracy and military operations in the region. “Venezuela has shown that it is a strong country, with true power, capable of defeating the oligarchy and imperialism in any circumstance,” he stated.
Piracy allegations and international condemnation
Caracas maintains that US actions seek a regime change to seize the country’s oil and gas wealth. The UN and the DEA itself have indicated that Venezuela is not a main route for drug trafficking to the United States, since more than 80% of drugs use the Pacific route.
Governments such as those of Russia, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, together with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, have condemned the attacks on Venezuelan vessels, calling them violations of international law and “summary executions” at sea.
