CARACAS — The Venezuelan government on Saturday denounced what it called a new "theft and kidnapping" of a private vessel transporting Venezuelan oil, along with the forced disappearance of its crew, allegedly carried out by US military forces in international waters.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said on Saturday that US forces seized the vessel off the Venezuelan coast earlier in the day.

"In a pre-dawn action early this morning on Dec 20, the US Coast Guard with the support of the Department of War apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela," Noem said in a post on X.

She also posted an unclassified video of a US helicopter landing personnel on a vessel called Centuries.

Venezuelan authorities described the incident as an act of piracy that seriously violated international law and undermined fundamental principles of freedom of navigation and maritime trade.

Venezuela's government, in a statement on Saturday, characterized the US forces' actions as "criminal" and vowed not to let them "go unpunished" by pursuing various legal avenues, including by filing complaints with the United Nations Security Council.

This is the second time in recent weeks that the US has seized a tanker near Venezuela amid a large US military buildup in the region.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he has ordered a total blockade of all US-sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela. He also said in a later interview that the US will continue to seize additional oil tankers.

The US military seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Dec 10, a move the Venezuelan government condemned as "a blatant theft and an act of international piracy".

The US in recent months has sent a fleet of warships to the region, the largest buildup of forces in generations. At least 104 people have been killed in 28 known strikes since early September, The Associated Press reported.

The strikes have faced scrutiny from US lawmakers and human rights activists, who say the administration has offered scant evidence that its targets are indeed drug smugglers and that the fatal strikes amount to extrajudicial killings.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that an armed intervention in Venezuela would be "a humanitarian catastrophe" for the region and set a dangerous precedent for the world.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said on Saturday that the recent US government's designation of the legitimate government of Venezuela as a "foreign terrorist organization" is a politically motivated act.

Agencies - Xinhua