Venezuela accuses US of piracy after seizing sanctioned oil tanker

(MENAFN) According to reports, Venezuela has accused the United States of piracy following the seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean by the U.S. Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Wednesday that the vessel was carrying oil from Venezuela and Iran in violation of sanctions.

Caracas denounced the action, asserting that it aimed to steal the country’s resources. In an official statement, the Venezuelan government said the seizure “constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy.” Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto further argued that America’s objective “has always been to seize Venezuelan oil… as part of a deliberate plan to plunder our energy resources.”

The government condemned what it called Washington’s “imperial abuses” and pledged to “defend with absolute determination its sovereignty, its natural resources, and its national dignity.”

The tanker, identified by news outlets as The Skipper—previously sanctioned under the name Adisa in 2022 for allegedly supplying oil to Iran and Hezbollah—flies a Guyana flag. Reports indicate the vessel departed Venezuela’s Puerto José on December 4-5 carrying roughly 1.1 million barrels of crude oil.

Venezuela has long criticized U.S. sanctions as illegal under international law. President Nicolas Maduro has framed them as part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump to unseat him, rejecting U.S. accusations linking him to drug cartels and cautioning against provoking “a crazy war."

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