{"id":11998,"date":"2025-12-11T06:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T06:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/us-accused-of-piracy-after-troops-storm-tanker-off-venezuela\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T06:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T06:44:11","slug":"us-accused-of-piracy-after-troops-storm-tanker-off-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/us-accused-of-piracy-after-troops-storm-tanker-off-venezuela\/","title":{"rendered":"US accused of ‘piracy’ after troops storm tanker off Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Venezuela has accused the US of “piracy” after an oil tanker was seized off the country’s coast.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump<\/strong> announced the operation had taken place during a meeting of business leaders at the White House, telling reporters: “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela<\/strong>, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually.”<\/p>\n

Attorney General Pam Bondi shared a video of the operation, revealing the FBI, Homeland Security, US Coast Guard, and Department of Defence were involved.<\/p>\n

She said the US forces “executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran”.<\/p>\n

Venezuela’s government said the seizure “constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy.”<\/p>\n

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Ms Bondi said the seized vessel – believed to be a tanker named Skipper – has been sanctioned by the US for many years “due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations”.<\/p>\n

News :<\/span><div>12 weeks' jail for school IT support technician who took upskirt videos of teachers<\/div><\/span><\/a><\/div>

She did not name the vessel, what flag it sailed under, or exactly where the incident took place.<\/p>\n

UK maritime risk management group Vanguard said that the tanker Skipper – which the US sanctioned for alleged involvement in Iranian oil trading under the name Adisa – was believed to be the target.<\/p>\n

Trump offers ominous commentary<\/strong><\/p>\n

Without giving additional information on the operation, Mr Trump added during the White House meeting that “other things are happening”.<\/p>\n

Later, Mr Trump said the tanker was “seized for a very good reason”, and when asked what will happen to the oil on board, he added: “Well, we keep it, I suppose.”<\/p>\n

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News :<\/span>Migrant acquitted in first trial over US border military zones<\/span><\/a><\/div>


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US seizing oil tanker a ‘significant escalation’<\/span>
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How did we get here?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It marks another escalation from the US after months of pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The White House accuses Mr Maduro of presiding over a narcotrafficking operation in Venezuela, which he denies.<\/p>\n

The US has escalated military deployments against the Latin American country over the last few months, with the president suggesting American forces could launch a land attack<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Politico on Tuesday, Mr Trump declined to comment on whether US troops would enter Venezuela, but warned Mr Maduro’s “days are numbered”.<\/p>\n

On 2 September, the White House posted on X that it had conducted a strike against so-called “narcoterrorists”<\/strong> shipping fentanyl to the US, without providing direct evidence of the alleged crime.<\/p>\n

Sky News has verified that in the past four months, 23 boats have been targeted in 22 strikes, killing 87 people.<\/p>\n

Read more: Is this what the beginning of a war looks like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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US interception of oil tanker raises more questions about international law<\/h4>\n

The seizing of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela is a significant escalation in US tactics.<\/p>\n

By targeting an oil shipment, rather than a suspected drug boat, Washington has signalled its willingness to disrupt exports.<\/p>\n

President Trump seems determined to shut down one of the last major sources of funding for Nicholas Maduro’s embattled government.<\/p>\n

Nine months ago, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on all goods imported into the US from any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela.<\/p>\n

This is even more aggressive and will be viewed in Caracas as a direct threat to the country’s economy and sovereignty.<\/p>\n

The interception of the tanker raises more questions about international maritime law and the reach of US enforcement powers.<\/p>\n

In the space of four months, the US has bombed 23 boats, killing 87 people, accusing the occupants of being “narco-terrorists”.<\/p>\n

It will also fuel speculation that airstrikes are imminent, President Trump having posted two weeks ago that he had closed the airspace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Venezuela: ‘It has always been about our oil’<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Maduro government describes America’s actions as a grab for Venezuela’s oil reserves, which are among the biggest in the world.<\/p>\n

At a rally before a ruling-party-organised demonstration in Caracas on Wednesday, Mr Maduro did not address the seizure but told supporters Venezuela is “prepared to break the teeth of the North American empire if necessary”.<\/p>\n

Flanked by senior officials, he said that only the ruling party can “guarantee peace, stability, and the harmonious development of Venezuela, South America and the Caribbean”.<\/p>\n

His government did issue a statement, accusing the US of “piracy” and “imperial abuses”.<\/p>\n

Of the US campaign, it said: “It has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people.”<\/p>\n

Read more on Venezuela:
Hegseth cites ‘fog of war’ defence
US aircraft carrier close to Venezuela<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Are US strikes on Venezuela about drugs or oil?
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Is military confrontation possible?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Geoffrey Corn, director of the Centre for Military Law at Texas Tech University, told Sky’s Mark Austin<\/strong> on The World<\/strong> that Mr Trump’s remarks on land strikes “ostensibly” refer to drug cartel members.<\/p>\n

Formerly a senior adviser to the US army on warfare law, Mr Corn added: “That could very easily provide the pretext for some confrontation between Venezuelan armed forces and US armed forces.<\/p>\n

“And then that would open the door to a broader campaign to basically negate the power of the Venezuelan military.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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US accused of ‘piracy’ after troops storm tanker off Venezuela<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Venezuela has accused the US of “piracy” after an oil tanker was seized off the country’s coast. Donald Trump announced the operation had taken place during a meeting of business leaders at the White House, telling reporters: “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever…<\/p>\n

Read More “US accused of ‘piracy’ after troops storm tanker off Venezuela”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}