WASHINGTON, December 23. /TASS/. A cyberattack on Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) could have been carried out by the US, Politico reported.

"A massive cyberattack that crippled Venezuela’s oil and gas infrastructure bears many of the telltales of a US operation, according to former US officials and cyber experts," the newspaper writes. "It looks like a preconceived attack," an unnamed source told Politico. He added that only the US was capable of such an attack.

"Experts say that the US is one of the only countries that could execute a cyberattack of this magnitude," the newspaper writes. Former cybersecurity officials told Politico that US Cyber Command is most likely responsible. "This is what US Cyber Command was built to do," one of the sources said. "It sounds entirely plausible and is consistent with the mission and capabilities of US Cyber Command," he added.

On December 15, PDVSA representatives reported that the company had been hit by a cyberattack with the goal of interrupting its operations. They accused Washington of an "attempt at aggression in line with the public US government strategy to take over Venezuelan oil by force and piracy."

 

US pressure on Caracas

 

Washington has baselessly accused the Venezuelan government of not doing enough to combat drug smuggling. According to the New York Times newspaper, Trump has allowed the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.

In August, The New York Times reported that US President Donald Trump had signed a classified directive to begin using military force against Latin American drug cartels.

Significant additional US military units were deployed to the Caribbean Sea region, including a group of ships headed by the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford. Over recent months, under the pretext of fighting drug smuggling, the US army destroyed more than 20 boats off the coast of Latin America, resulting in nearly 100 casualties. Colombian President Gustavo Petro reported that one of the strikes had killed a Colombian fisherman, not a drug smuggler.

On December 10, Trump confirmed the seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, asserting that the US intends to retain the vessel’s cargo. On December 16, the American president announced that he had given instructions to stop all sanctioned tankers sailing to or from Venezuela. Trump said the US considers the government in Caracas a "foreign terrorist organization."

On December 20, the United States intercepted the Centuries tanker, which was sailing under the flag of Panama with a cargo for an oil trader from China supplying fuel to Chinese refineries. The vessel was not under American sanctions. On December 21, Bloomberg reported that the US was in pursuit of a third tanker, Bella 1, sailing to Venezuela under the flag of Panama.