Caracas on Wednesday accused Washington of “blatant theft” after United States (US) President Donald Trump announced the seizure of a large oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast.
Venezuela “strongly denounces and condemns what constitutes blatant theft and an act of international piracy, publicly announced by the President of the United States,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Asked what would happen with the oil, Trump said: “We keep it, I guess.”
In response, the Venezuelan government in a statement accused the U.S. of “blatant theft” and described the seizure as “an act of international piracy”. It said it would denounce the incident before international bodies.
Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Venezuela. The seizure is the first of a Venezuelan oil cargo amid U.S. sanctions that have been in force since 2019. It is also the Trump administration’s first known action against a Venezuela-related tanker since he ordered a massive military buildup in the region.