Oil tanker Veronica. Photo: Screenshot.
Southern Command detailed that Marines and naval personnel from Joint Task Force Southern Spear departed from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to carry out the operation.
In blatant violation of all international legal frameworks, the United States Southern Command reported a new act of piracy in the Caribbean on Thursday, announcing the theft of the oil tanker Veronica, linked to Venezuela and accused by Washington of violating the unilateral blockade imposed on Venezuelan crude.
Through a message posted on social media, the military organization stated that the Veronica was the latest tanker operating “defying the quarantine” decreed by President Donald Trump against sanctioned vessels in the region, and asserted that the incident confirms the effectiveness of Operation Southern Spear.
Through #OpSouthernSpear, the Department of War is unwavering in its mission to crush illicit activity in the Western Hemisphere in partnership with @USCG through @DHSgov and @TheJusticeDept.
In another pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear,… pic.twitter.com/brxO9xXUu3
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) January 15, 2026
According to the statement, the action was carried out by the U.S. Department of Defense in coordination with the Coast Guard, under the auspices of the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice.
Southern Command detailed that Marines and naval personnel from Joint Task Force Southern Spear departed from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to carry out the operation.
It also highlighted that the operation received support from the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Group, with the participation of the ships USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), USS San Antonio (LPD 17), and USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28), whose capabilities were described by the organization as “lethal and permanently combat-ready.”
In the same statement, the organization maintained that “the only oil that will leave Venezuela will be that which is properly coordinated and legal,” a statement that reinforces Washington’s attempt to seize control over the resources of a sovereign nation.
These actions, carried out outside the framework of international law and without any threat to U.S. territory, demonstrate an imperialist policy based on the military occupation of foreign waters and spaces, as well as the use of force to impose a unilateral blockade and exert control over nations that do not submit to its interests.
The theft of the Veronica vessel occurred within a context of growing regional tension, after Washington launched, under the pretext of combating drug trafficking and terrorism, a military aggression first in Caribbean waters and later within Venezuelan territory, culminating in the kidnapping of the constitutional president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores.
#ENVIDEO | El Gobierno de Venezuela denuncia y rechaza categĂłricamente un nuevo acto de "robo y secuestro" de un buque petrolero por parte de militares estadounidenses en aguas internacionales, calificando el hecho como una "grosera violaciĂłn" del derecho internacional.
Por su… pic.twitter.com/tFFLNFzALP
— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) December 22, 2025
In this context, the U.S. administration has repeatedly made accusations of drug trafficking against Venezuela without presenting evidence, using these allegations as justification for sanctions, blockades, and military actions.
However, reports from international organizations such as the United Nations have recognized that the South American nation is not a drug-producing country and has been certified as a territory free of illicit crops, in addition to having one of the strictest legal frameworks in the region in the fight against drug trafficking.
(Telesur)
