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Venezuela on Wednesday condemned the seizure of the United States of a sanctioned oil company off its coast, calling it an “act of international piracy.”
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela strongly denounces and repudiates what constitutes flagrant theft and an act of international piracy, publicly announced by the President of the United States, who has confessed to the assault of an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea,” the government said in a official press release.
The statement, published by Correo del Orinoco, a state-run newspaper that regularly carries official announcements from Venezuela’s government, 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 the support of the War Department, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker that was allegedly used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
American forces were seen entering the building with guns drawn. (@agpambondi via x)
“For many years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil transportation network that supports foreign terrorist organizations,” he told X. “This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was carried out safely and securely – and our investigation alongside Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transportation of the sanctioned oil from continuing.”
Bondi released unrated video footage of the operation which showed a helicopter approaching the large tank and tactical personnel pushing back a rope on the deck.
Recently released footage shows US forces securing a Venezuelan oil tanker. (@agpambondi via x)
President Donald Trump made the seizure announcement Wednesday while speaking at a White House roundtable with business leaders.
“As you probably know, we just took a tank on the coast of Venezuela. A big tank, very big, the biggest ever actually taken,” Trump told reporters. “And, other things are happening. So see you later, and you’ll talk about it later with other people.”
President Donald Trump looks on during a roundtable discussion in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC on December 10, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
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“It was taken for a very good reason,” he added later.
Asked by a reporter what would happen to the oil aboard the tanker, Trump replied, “Well, we’ll keep it, I guess.”
A short time later, he said, “I think we have to keep the oil.”
