Caracas, Sep 13 (EFE) – The Venezuelan government said Saturday that a US destroyer boarded “illegally” and occupied for eight hours a Venezuelan fishing boat.
“Yesterday, a Venezuelan tuna fishing vessel (…) was boarded in a hostile manner by a unit of the United States Navy, (…) the destroyer Jason Dunham, registration number DDG-109, equipped with heavy weapons, missiles, men, and military personnel with weapons of war,” said in a televised statement Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil.
Gil read out a communiqué stating that “the warship deployed 18 armed troopers who boarded and occupied the small and harmless vessel, preventing communication and normal fishing activities.”
The note added that the occupants were “humble tuna fishermen sailing 48 nautical miles from La Blanquilla Island in waters belonging to the Venezuelan Exclusive Economic Zone.”
The Venezuelan government confirmed that the Bolivarian National Armed Forces had monitored and recorded the incident using aerial, naval, and surveillance resources, and had accompanied the fishermen until their release.
The government said that the incident “reflects the shameful conduct of political sectors in Washington that, in an irresponsible manner, committed costly military resources and trained soldiers as instruments to fabricate pretexts for war.”
The Venezuelan government also demanded that the United States “immediately cease these actions that endanger the security and peace of the Caribbean.”
The United States deployed eight military ships with missiles and a nuclear-powered submarine deployed near Venezuelan waters, and ordered the dispatch of ten F-35 fighter planes to an air base in Puerto Rico, to combat drug trafficking in the Caribbean.
Venezuela had denounced the military operation as an attempt to bring about a ‘” regime change’” in the country. EFE
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