Venezuela denounces US military seizure of oil tanker as 'piracy'

Caracas [Venezuela], December 12: Venezuela's Foreign Ministry has condemned the US military's seizure of an oil tanker off its coast, calling the operation "a blatant theft and an act of international piracy."
US troops took control of the vessel in the Caribbean earlier on Wednesday. US Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel said the tanker had been part of an illegal oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.
Bondi said on social media platform X that the vessel had been used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. She added that the tanker had been sanctioned by the United States for multiple years and that soldiers had now executed a seizure warrant.
Her post also included a video that purportedly shows the operation.
In the footage, a helicopter approaches a tanker before soldiers rappel onto the deck with weapons drawn to secure the ship. No crew members can be seen.
"Under these circumstances, the true reasons behind the ongoing aggression against Venezuela are finally clear," Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said on Instagram.
"It is not about migration. It is not about drug trafficking. It is not about democracy. It is not about human rights."
"It is always about our natural resources, our oil, our energy, our resources that belong exclusively to the people of Venezuela," it added.
US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House it was a "large tanker, very large, - largest one ever seized, actually."
He did not provide further details but suggested that additional developments could follow as "other things are happening."
It initially remained unclear where the vessel had been headed and under which flag it was sailing. According to Bondi, the takeover of the tanker involved the Coast Guard, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, with support from the Pentagon.
The US has carried out multiple airstrikes on speedboats in waters near Venezuela in recent months, with the Trump administration saying they target drug-trafficking operations.
The US has also deployed a significant military presence off Venezuela, including warships, aircraft and troops.
Trump has also authorized covert operations by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Venezuela, and has stressed repeatedly that ground operations were not off the table.
Venezuela has vast oil reserves, is heavily dependent on export revenues and primarily supplies its oil to US rival China.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro accused the Trump administration of targeting these resources in escalating the conflict and seeking to force a regime change in Caracas.
Source: Qatar Tribune