Piracy in Venezuela

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Gasoline smuggling in the Limon River, Zulia state Rio limon venezuela231.jpg
Gasoline smuggling in the Limón River, Zulia state

Piracy off the coast of Venezuela increased during the crisis in Venezuela. The situation has been compared to piracy off the coast of Somalia, which was also caused by economic collapse. As Venezuelans grow more desperate, fears of increasing incidents and range of piracy have been reported. [1] Venezuelan pirates often smuggle weapons, drugs and sex trafficking victims. [2] Authorities have also been involved in piracy near the coast of Venezuela. [2]

Contents

History

At the end of the 20th century, Venezuela had a successful fishing industry where international business and trade occurred. [3] When Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1998, he changed the country's social, political and economic structure through the Bolivarian Revolution. Populist policies initiated by Chávez [4] and continued by his successor, Nicolás Maduro, drove the country into a decline, with poverty, inflation and shortages in Venezuela increasing. [1] [3] [5] By 2015, the tonnage of fish caught in Venezuela dropped by 60% compared to when Chávez entered office, with thousands of fishermen losing their jobs. [3]

Effect

Many fishermen who previously worked in Venezuela's once successful fishing industry turned to piracy. [6] Pirates would steal, smuggle drugs and traffic humans. [6] [3] The trend has direct echoes of the Somali piracy crisis, where impoverished fishermen likewise turned to hijacking passing vessels after the country's collapse into lawlessness in the 1990s.

Government is absent, bandits are everywhere, and participating can cost you your life. But not participating can also mean death, because the official economy of Venezuela is in a state of collapse, and the people are starving.

Bloomberg [3]

In 2010, the Bolivarian government expropriated and nationalized the fishing industry in the state of Sucre, one of the poorest states in Venezuela. The region once had the fourth largest fleet of tuna ships in the world, but by late 2016, many former fishermen in the state became pirates. The pirates killed fishermen in the area and threatened businesses, preying on individuals who entered the open sea and stealing their boat engines, fish and other goods. [6] According to Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), a total of 21 pirate attacks were reported near Venezuela in 2016. [1]

Into 2017, piracy grew in Lake Maracaibo, with bandits attempting to rob and kill boaters in the area for their possessions. Croakers, valuable fish caught in the waters that contain swim bladders rich in collagen, are often targeted by pirates in the area to be sold in international markets. The Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela, according to locals, rarely patrols the waters. [7] Pirates would also strip equipment from PDVSA oil facilities near Lake Maracaibo's waters. [8] In total, 71 incidents of piracy occurred in Venezuelan waters according to OBP, a 163% increase from the previous year. [1] [2]

Reports of Venezuelan pirates attacking luxury yachts in the Caribbean began to emerge in 2018. Pirates also make an income by smuggling goods from Trinidad and Tobago into Venezuela, where there is scarcity of numerous common products due to economic issues. [1] With the two countries being two hours apart by water, Venezuelan pirates can receive high profits selling Trinidadian goods in their native country, and then return to the island nation to sell discounted Venezuelan contraband. [3] Venezuelans also fear government authorities who are just as desperate, accusing law enforcement of piracy as well. [3] The violence in the area led Trinidad and Tobago Newsday to name the waters the "Gulf of No Return". [3]

Recent Developments

In 2023, there has been a marked increase in coordinated attacks by pirate groups. A significant incident in March 2023 involved pirates hijacking a cargo vessel near the island of Margarita, demanding ransom for the release of the crew. The Venezuelan government, in response to growing international pressure, announced an increase in naval patrols along the most affected regions, although local reports suggest these measures have yet to significantly deter pirate activities. [9]

Additionally, there have been increased instances of piracy linked to organized crime networks, with some attacks being traced back to criminal syndicates operating out of major Venezuelan cities. In April 2023, a joint operation between Venezuelan and Colombian authorities led to the capture of a notorious pirate leader known for orchestrating numerous high-profile hijackings in the Caribbean. [10] [11]

Furthermore, there has been a rise in violence associated with piracy. In June 2023, an attack on a fishing vessel off the coast of Sucre resulted in the deaths of four fishermen, highlighting the continuing dangers faced by those venturing into Venezuelan waters.

The international community, including organizations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO), has called for increased cooperation and support to combat piracy in the region. Efforts are being made to provide training and resources to local authorities to better address the threat of piracy.

These developments underscore the ongoing crisis and the urgent need for comprehensive strategies to tackle the root causes of piracy in Venezuela.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piracy</span> Act of robbery or criminality at sea

Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, and vessels used for piracy are called pirate ships. The earliest documented instances of piracy were in the 14th century BC, when the Sea Peoples, a group of ocean raiders, attacked the ships of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilisations. Narrow channels which funnel shipping into predictable routes have long created opportunities for piracy, as well as for privateering and commerce raiding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piracy in the Caribbean</span> Piracy in the Caribbean region from the 1500s to the 1830s

The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 1500s and phased out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean began hunting and prosecuting pirates. The period during which pirates were most successful was from the 1650s to the 1730s. Piracy flourished in the Caribbean because of the existence of pirate seaports such as Port Royal in Jamaica, Tortuga in Haiti, and Nassau in the Bahamas. Piracy in the Caribbean was part of a larger historical phenomenon of piracy, as it existed close to major trade and exploration routes in almost all the five oceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piracy in the Strait of Malacca</span> Piracy in the China Sea

Piracy in the Strait of Malacca has long been a threat to ship owners and the mariners who ply the 900 km-long sea lane. In recent years, coordinated patrols by Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore along with increased security on vessels have sparked a sharp downturn in piracy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea</span>

Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea affects a number of countries in West Africa as well as the wider international community. By 2011, it had become an issue of global concern. Pirates in the Gulf of Guinea are often part of heavily armed criminal enterprises, who employ violent methods to steal oil cargo. In 2012, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), Oceans Beyond Piracy and the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Program reported that the number of vessels attacks by West African pirates had reached a world high, with 966 seafarers attacked during the year. According to the Control Risks Group, pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea had by mid-November 2013 maintained a steady level of around 100 attempted hijackings in the year, a close second behind the Strait of Malacca in Southeast Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action of 28 October 2007</span> US military confrontation with Somali pirates

The action of 28 October 2007 was part of Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa, the military operation defined by the United States for combating terrorism in the Horn of Africa. The incident occurred when United States Navy units acted to interdict piracy in the region.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Somali Sea, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding places and has a long troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. It was initially a threat to international fishing vessels during the early 2000s, only to rapidly escalate and expand to international shipping during the War in Somalia (2006–2009).

On September 2, 2008, the French yacht Carré d'As IV and its two crew were captured in the Gulf of Aden by seven armed Somali pirates, who demanded the release of six pirates captured in the April MY Le Ponant raid and over one million dollars in ransom. On September 16, 2008, on the orders of President Nicolas Sarkozy, French special forces raided and recovered the yacht, rescued the two hostages, killed one pirate, and captured the other six. The pirates were flown to France to stand trial for piracy and related offenses; ultimately, five of them were convicted and sentenced to four to eight years in prison, while a sixth was acquitted. The incident marked the second French counter-piracy commando operation of 2008, as well as the first French trial of Somali pirates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piracy on Falcon Lake</span> Part of the Mexican drug war

Piracy on Falcon Lake refers to an increase in crime at the border between the United States and Mexico on Falcon Lake. The lake is a 60-mile (97 km) long reservoir of the Rio Grande that was constructed in 1954 and is a known drug smuggling route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piracy in the 21st century</span> Aspect of modern history

Piracy in the 21st century has taken place in a number of waters around the world, including the Gulf of Guinea, Strait of Malacca, Sulu and Celebes Seas, Indian Ocean, and Falcon Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piracy in the Sulu and Celebes Seas</span>

The Sulu and Celebes Seas, a semi-enclosed sea area and porous region that covers an area of space around 1 million square kilometres, have been subject to illegal maritime activities since the pre-colonial era and continue to pose a maritime security threat to bordering nations up to this day. While piracy has long been identified as an ubiquitous challenge, being historically interwoven with the region, recent incidents also include other types of maritime crimes such as kidnapping and the trafficking of humans, arms and drugs. Attacks mostly classify as 'armed robbery against ships' according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as they occur in maritime zones that lie under the sovereignty of a coastal state. Incidents in the Sulu and Celebes Seas specifically involve the abduction of crew members. Since March 2016, the Information Sharing Centre (ISC) of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) reports a total of 86 abductions, leading to the issue of a warning for ships transpassing the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Ocean Shield</span> NATO operation in the Horn of Africa

Operation Ocean Shield was NATO's contribution to Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA), an anti-piracy initiative in the Indian Ocean, Guardafui Channel, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. It follows the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council, the program was terminated on 15 December 2016 by NATO. Operation Ocean Shield focused on protecting the ships of Operation Allied Provider, which transported relief supplies as part of the World Food Programme's mission in the region. The initiative also helped strengthen the navies and coast guards of regional states to assist in countering pirate attacks. Additionally, China, Japan and South Korea sent warships to participate in these activities.

Abshir Abdillahi, known as "Boyah" is a Somali pirate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-piracy measures in Somalia</span> Anti-piracy in international waters near Somalia

Piracy in Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the beginning of the country's civil war in the early 1990s. Since 2005, many international organizations have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy. Piracy impeded the delivery of shipments and increased shipping expenses, costing an estimated $6.6 to $6.9 billion a year in global trade in 2011 according to Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somalia–Spain relations</span> Bilateral relations

Somalia–Spain relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Somalia has no embassy in Spain, nor Spain in Somalia, but the Spanish embassy in Nairobi is accredited to Somalia.

As a practice of piracy, petro-piracy, also sometimes called oil piracy or petrol piracy, is defined as “illegal taking of oil after vessel hijacks, which are sometimes executed with the use of motorships” with huge potential financial rewards. Petro-piracy is mostly a practice that is connected to and originates from piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, but examples of petro-piracy outside of the Gulf of Guinea is not uncommon. At least since 2008, the Gulf of Guinea has been home to pirates practicing petro-piracy by targeting the region's extensive oil industry. Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has risen in the last years to become the hot spot of piracy globally with 76 actual and attempted attacks, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). Most of these attacks in the Gulf of Guinea take place in inland or territorial waters, but recently pirates have been proven to venture further out to sea, e.g. crew members were kidnapped from the tanker David B. 220 nautical miles outside of Benin. Pirates most often targets vessels carrying oil products and kidnappings of crew for ransom. IMB reports that countries in the Gulf of Guinea, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Togo, Congo, and, especially, Nigeria, have experienced petro-piracy and kidnappings of crew as the most common trends of piracy attacks in the Gulf of Guinea.

Piracy kidnappings occur during piracy, when people are kidnapped by pirates or taken hostage. Article 1 of the United Nations International Convention against the Taking of Hostages defines a hostage-taker as "any person who seizes or detains and threatens to kill, to injure, or to continue to detain another person in order to compel a third party namely, a State, an international intergovernmental organization, a natural or Juridical person, or a group of people, to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition tor the release of the hostage commits the offense of taking of hostages ("hostage-taking") within the meaning of this convention." Kidnappers often try to obtain the largest financial reward possible in exchange for hostages, but piracy kidnappings can also be politically motivated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hijacking of the Playa de Bakio</span>

The hijacking of the Playa de Bakio was an incident that occurred between April 20 and 26, 2008. During those days the crew of the Spanish boat Playa de Bakio was held by pirates off the coast of Somalia.

2023 in piracy was marked by 120 events of maritime piracy against ships, according to the annual Piracy and Armed Robbery Report of the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB). 105 vessels were boarded, nine additional attacks attempted, two fired upon, and four vessels hijacked.

2022 in piracy resulted in 115 reports of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships to the International Maritime Bureau. 288 acts of global piracy and robbery were recorded by the MICA Centre. Piracy had substantially increased in the Gulf of Guinea; the year began with five incidents each month, through March, in the Gulf, where acts of piracy had become heightened during 2015 through 2020, while, overall, piracy incidents declined globally.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Freeman, Colin (23 May 2018). "Piracy returns to Caribbean as Venezuela turmoil spurs rise in attacks on yachts". The Telegraph . ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 ""They be pirates": An old scourge is reappearing in the Caribbean". The Washington Post . Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Franklin, Jonathan (30 January 2018). "Venezuelan Pirates Rule the Most Lawless Market on Earth". Bloomberg . Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  4. ↑ 남민우, 기 (2 May 2018). "화폐경제 무너졌는데…최저임금 인상에 목매는 베네수엘라". 朝鮮日報 (in Korean). Retrieved 22 May 2018. Venezuela's fall is considered to be mainly caused by the populist policy
  5. ↑ Porzucki, Nina (13 January 2016). "It's not Hugo Chavez's Venezuela anymore, or is it?". Public Radio International . Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "El flagelo de la piratería marítima llega a las costas de Venezuela". Infobae (in Spanish). 8 December 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  7. ↑ Alex, Gustavo Ocando (9 January 2017). ""Tengo miedo… si te agarran, te matan": los piratas del lago Maracaibo y la peligrosa búsqueda de la corvina, el pez "dorado" de Venezuela". BBC Mundo . Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  8. ↑ Ulmer, Alexandra (25 June 2015). "A FONDO-Piratas y ladrones se ensañan con la industria petrolera..." Reuters (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  9. ↑ "Piracy Map 2023". www.icc-ccs.org. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  10. ↑ Buitendijk, Mariska (2024-01-12). "Piracy incidents on the rise in 2023 | SWZ|Maritime" . Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  11. ↑ Moreira, JTMS Intern Thyene (2023-09-04). "Comparing the Economic and Social Problems leading to Maritime Piracy in Somalia and Venezuela". jtms. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
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