"They kidnapped the crew, stole the ship and have started a new era of criminal piracy in the Caribbean. Venezuela will reclaim all the ships to ensure the free trade of our oil in the world," Maduro said during an event on Thursday evening local time.
It was on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump announced that the country had seized the tanker. Shortly afterwards, the Venezuelan government condemned the US and accused it of theft.
In recent months, the United States has carried out repeated deadly attacks on ships allegedly smuggling drugs off the coast of Venezuela.
