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Venezuela demands US release crew of seized tanker

17 December 2025 06:28 (UTC +04:00)

Venezuela has demanded that the United States immediately release the crew of the seized tanker, return the stolen oil, and cease interfering with the legitimate oil trade, said in a letter from Venezuelan Foreign Minister Iván Gil Pinto to the President of the UN Security Council, published on his Telegram channel, APA reports.

"The Venezuelan government demands the immediate and unconditional release of the kidnapped crew, the return of the Venezuelan oil illegally confiscated on the high seas, and an end to any forceful actions or interference in the legitimate trade of Venezuelan oil," the Foreign Minister stated. He called on the UN Security Council to "publicly condemn this state-sponsored act of piracy, the illegal use of military force against a private vessel, and the theft of cargo engaged in legitimate international trade."

The minister called the seizure of an oil tanker in international waters in the Caribbean Sea by US forces "an act of state piracy" and "an egregious theft of non-US assets." Gil emphasized that Venezuela will "continue to exercise its sovereign and inalienable right to the lawful trade of its resources and demand that legitimate operations be free from theft, seizure, or acts of piracy."