Cuba Denounces US Seizure of Venezuela's Crude Carrier as ‘Piracy’.
Cuban authorities have vehemently denounced the Wednesday's capture of the Skipper oil tanker in Venezuelan waters, describing it as an “unlawful act of piracy”, as well as a “grave breach of international legal norms” that negatively impacts the nation of Cuba and its citizens.
Tanker's Route & Cargo
The tanker, said to be making its way towards Galveston, Texas, was reportedly transporting close to 2 million barrels of heavy crude oil from Venezuela, per internal documents from the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.
The Skipper’s intended port of call was the Cuban port of Matanzas, Cuba. Yet, 48 hours following its set sail, it is said to have off-loaded an roughly 50k barrels to another ship, which subsequently headed in the direction of Cuba while the Skipper changed direction east toward Asia.
“This action constitutes the escalation by the United States aimed at obstructing the legitimate rights of Venezuela to utilize and commercialize its natural resources, including the supplies of hydrocarbons to Cuba,” stated a diplomatic communiqué from Havana.
The communiqué further added that the actions by the United States “harms the nation and heightens the United States’ policy of strangulation through maximum pressure.”
Context of Broader News
In separate political developments in the US:
- Senior Democratic lawmakers are demanding an inquiry into a share-buying spree by two fossil fuel billionaires with close ties to the current US administration. These transactions, valued at nearly $12m each, occurred shortly after a meeting with high-level administration figures.
- California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a rebuttal against a new AI policy directive. Newsom labeled the directive, which aims to prevent individual states from creating their own AI rules, a vehicle for “grift and corruption” rather than innovation.
- Afghan immigrants and their advocates in the US are pushing back against new immigration crackdowns. They contend the action unfairly punishes a large number of people based on the reported actions of a one man.
