The dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, classified this Sunday (21) as “privateer piracy” the recent seizures of oil tankers carried out by the United States in the Caribbean Sea, after the interception of a third ship near Venezuelan territory.
According to Maduro, Venezuela has been facing “for around 25 weeks” an escalation of what he called “hostile actions” by the US against vessels transporting Venezuelan oil. The dictator did not directly mention the recently seized ships.
This Saturday (21), a second oil tanker was confiscated, this time operating under the Panamanian flag, accused of transporting oil subject to sanctions and being part of the informal export scheme known by Washington as Venezuela’s “ghost fleet”. The official version maintains that the objective of the operations is to curb the oil trade that finances the Maduro regime. A third oil tanker was intercepted this Sunday.
Trump this week ordered a total blockade against Venezuela. The White House cites that the Maduro regime is responsible for drug trafficking. The Venezuelan dictatorship claims that the ongoing American military pressure is a way of forcing a change of regime and appropriating Venezuela’s “riches”.
