Venezuela on Wednesday condemned the U.S. seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker off its coast, calling it an “act of international piracy.”
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela strongly denounces and repudiates what constitutes blatant theft and an act of international piracy, publicly announced by the president of the United States, who confessed to the assault of an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea,” the government said in an official communiqué.
The statement, published by Correo del Orinoco, a state-run news outlet that regularly carries Venezuela’s official government announcements, framed the seizure as part of a broader campaign against the country’s sovereignty and natural resources.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said a joint operation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker that was allegedly being used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” she said on X. “This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely—and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues.”
Bondi released unclassified video footage of the operation that showed a helicopter approaching the large tanker and tactical personnel repelling down a rope onto the deck.
President Donald Trump made the seizure announcement on Wednesday while speaking at a roundtable event at the White House with business leaders.
“As you probably know, we’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. A large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized actually,” Trump told reporters. “And, other things are happening. So you’ll be seeing that later, and you’ll be talking about that later with some other people.”
“It was seized for a very good reason,” he later added.
Asked by a reporter what would happen to the oil aboard the tanker, Trump responded: “Well, we keep it, I guess.”
A short time later, he said, “I assume we’re going to keep the oil.”
Venezuela accuses US of ‘piracy’ after seizing massive oil tanker 2025 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2025-12-11 12:37:33 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
