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Miguel Díaz-Canel launched an attack against the U.S. president Donald Trump following the seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker in the Caribbean, an operation that provoked a strong reaction from the Cuban government, to which Caracas was sending the fuel.
The leader described the action as an act of "piracy" and accused Washington of behaving like the privateers who ravaged the region centuries ago.
"In an unprecedented affront to international norms, reminiscent of the times of (Francis) Drake and (Henry) Morgan, Donald Trump has just unleashed his pirates on a Venezuelan oil tanker, shamelessly seizing the cargo like a common thief," he said.
The statements were made during the closing speech of a plenary meeting of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), held behind closed doors on Saturday.
In his speech, Díaz-Canel denounced what he deemed an escalation of aggression by Trump against Venezuela, a country that Havana recognizes as a strategic ally.
The Cuban dictator merely echoed previous words from his friend Nicolás Maduro, who days earlier claimed that the American operation had inaugurated "a new era of criminal naval piracy in the Caribbean."
"They committed an absolutely criminal and illegal act when they carried out a military assault, kidnapping, and theft, like Caribbean pirates, against a merchant, commercial, civilian, private vessel—a ship of peace," he stated.
According to the Venezuelan leader, the interception of the ship also involved the kidnapping of crew members.
Cuba's stance on the seizure of the tanker had already been made clear days earlier.
Last Wednesday, Havana accused the United States of committing an "act of piracy" after it was revealed that the ship had been seized off the coast of Venezuela.
According to a report published by Axios, the vessel was transporting Venezuelan crude oil bound for Cuba, following a clandestine route linked to the black energy market.
Days later, the castro regime finally admitted that the seized oil was destined for the Island, openly denouncing that the U.S. operation blocks "hydrocarbon supplies to Cuba."
The operation was carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (HSI), and the Coast Guard, with support from the Department of Defense.
The vessel, a VLCC with a capacity of over 320,000 tons, had been under sanctions for years due to its connections with illicit networks transporting Venezuelan and Iranian oil.
According to Axios, some of the crude oil was subsequently resold by Cuba to Asian markets, including China, in schemes that the outlet links to relatives of Raúl Castro.
From the United States, Donald Trump openly celebrated the seizure of the vessel, which he described as "the largest ever captured."
When asked by journalists about the fate of the seized oil, he replied with irony that the United States would keep the oil and joked about the possibility of tracking the ship's journey by helicopter.
U.S. officials described the operation as a "double blow," impacting both the finances of Nicolás Maduro's government and the energy supply that sustains the Cuban regime.
For large sectors of the population on the Island, the episode once again highlighted Cuba's dependence on these oil shipments to keep its thermoelectric plants and basic services operating amidst a prolonged energy crisis.
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