Venezuela on Thursday strongly condemned the United States for seizing an oil tanker off its Caribbean coast, calling the move an act of “international piracy.”
In a statement, the Venezuelan government said the incident—along with recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump—shows that Washington’s policy toward Caracas is part of a “deliberate plan to plunder our energy resources.”
The statement added that the true motives behind the ongoing pressure on Venezuela “have never been about migration, drug trafficking, democracy, or human rights, but rather about our natural wealth—our oil, our energy, and the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people.”
Venezuela said it will respond to the tanker’s seizure before “all relevant international bodies.”
