The illegitimate Venezuelan Government announced on Saturday that a US destroyer intercepted, boarded and occupied a Venezuelan tuna boat for eight hours in the waters of the South American country's Special Economic Zone on Friday.
In a statement read by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil, the government stated that the tuna vessel was boarded in an illegal and hostile manner, and that it was crewed by nine "humble" fishermen and was "harmless".
Tensions have been mounting between Washington and Caracas. Last week, a US military strike in the Caribbean killed 11 narco-traffickers and sank their boat which departed from Venezuela.
The Venezuelan government identified the US vessel as the USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109), "equipped with powerful cruise missiles and manned by highly specialized marines."
It demanded that the US immediately cease targeting vessels, which it said puts, "the security and peace of the Caribbean at risk."
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by David Gregorio)