The Maduro regime is accusing the U.S. of conducting a cyber attack against its state-run oil company, PDVSA, claiming its part of a broader plan to take the country's oil.
PDVSA said the alleged attack was "orchestrated by foreign interests in complicity with stateless factors looking to interfere with the country's right to sovereign energetic development."
"It's not the first time the U.S. government, allied with extremist sectors, try to affect national stability and steal Christmas from the Venezuelan people," the company added.
However, it claimed, due to its "human talent," the company's "operational areas did not suffer any impact, reducing the attack to one against its administrative system."
"The industry's operational continuity remains as a result of safety protocols allowing regular activities," PDVSA added.
The cyber attack comes just days after the regime accused Washington of "kidnapping" the crew of a seized oil tanker, escalating tensions between the countries after U.S. federal agencies carried out a maritime operation targeting a vessel accused of transporting sanctioned crude from Venezuela and Iran.
U.S. officials said the tanker (identified as the Skipper) was seized by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Coast Guard. According to satellite data, the ship attempted to mask its location by transmitting false coordinates.
Maduro has called the incident a "criminal and illegal act." He described it as a "military assault, kidnapping and robbery, like Caribbean pirates, against a private commercial vessel." He said the ship was intercepted "far north of Trinidad and Tobago, near the Grenadines, heading into the Atlantic," not in Venezuelan waters.
The seizure comes amid intensified U.S. military operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific targeting vessels alleged to be involved in drug trafficking. President Donald Trump confirmed the seizure and later said the U.S. intends to take control of the oil aboard the tanker, pending legal procedures.
Originally published on Latin Times
