HAVANA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Cuban government said on Friday that the assault on a Venezuelan oil tanker in international waters constitutes a serious incident marking a dangerous escalation in the economic war and "maximum pressure" campaign waged by the United States against the Caribbean nation.
Cuba's Foreign Ministry described the action, which occurred on Wednesday, as "an act of piracy and maritime terrorism" and a "serious violation of international law," including the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation.
"This action is part of the U.S. escalation aimed at hampering Venezuela's legitimate right to freely use and trade its natural resources with other nations, including the supplies of hydrocarbons to Cuba," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry recalled that during U.S. President Donald Trump's first term, measures were adopted to obstruct the free trade of Venezuelan oil resources and to pursue vessels transporting fuel to Cuba.
"This situation persists and has been worsened now with the use of military force in an attempt to impose the U.S. domain on Our America," it said.
The ministry stressed that these actions "negatively affect Cuba and intensify the United States' policy of maximum pressure and economic suffocation policy," with a direct and severe impact on the national energy system and, consequently, on the daily lives of the Cuban people.
It also described the episode as "a clear act of application of the Trump corollary of the Monroe Doctrine," which it said violates the declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.
In response, Cuba demanded "universal condemnation" from the international community.
On Wednesday, Venezuela denounced what it called the "blatant theft" of an oil tanker by the United States amid its military deployment in the Caribbean, an incident the U.S. government described only as a "seizure." ■