Trump’s oil theft is an act of war on the Caribbean

On Dec. 10, the fascist Trump carried out an act of outright piracy, seizing a Venezuelan oil tanker in that country’s own coastal waters. The ship was carrying crude bound for Cuba — two nations Washington has tried to strangle for decades. 

Trump bragged about the operation, calling it the “largest” tanker ever taken and adding, “we keep it, I guess.” That is the voice of a government that believes it can plunder at will.

Axios quoted a senior official who celebrated the seizure as “a twofer: we’re going after Maduro’s bank account and the Cubans that keep him in power.” That one sentence says everything. It’s an act of war. Washington is attacking two countries that refuse to bow to U.S. imperialism.

U.S. air and drone strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed almost 100 people. The seizure of the tanker is a continuation of the absolute criminal and brutal lengths the capitalist class will go to secure their interests. 

This seizure is an attack on communities that have long resisted U.S. imperialism and have fought to maintain their dignity. Whether it be in Palestine or the Caribbean, the U.S. imperialists will stop at nothing to ensure the destruction of Black and Brown communities in their pillaging of resources. 

Workers and oppressed people in the United States and abroad must say no to capitalist war and, by any means necessary, work to end it!