The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela described the seizure of a tanker as a “brazen theft and an act of international piracy.” publicly announced by US President Donald Trumpwho assured that the operation was carried out “on the coasts” of the South American country.
In a statement released by Foreign Minister Yván Gil, Caracas strongly repudiated what it considers an assault confessed by the White House against an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The official text emphasizes that this fact constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and announced that Venezuela will take the complaint to multilateral bodies, including the UN and other international organizations, to expose the aggression and demand accountability.
The Government recalled that this is not the first time that Trump admits his interest in appropriating Venezuelan crude oil. During the 2024 presidential campaign, the US president openly declared that his goal was “to keep Venezuelan oil without paying any compensation.”
For Caracas, these statements confirm that Washington’s policy of aggression responds to a deliberate plan to dispossess Venezuela’s energy wealth.
The statement emphasizes that the true reasons for the prolonged hostility against the country are not related to migration, drug trafficking, democracy or human rights, but rather to the control of natural resources: oil, energy and wealth that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people.
The Venezuelan authorities assured that this act of piracy will be reported to the international community as proof of the strategy of looting and economic pressure that the United States maintains against the nation. Caracas insisted that the defense of its resources is inseparable from the defense of its sovereignty and that it will not allow foreign interests to appropriate assets that are the heritage of the people.
