(Reuters) -The Venezuelan government announced on Saturday that a U.S. destroyer intercepted, boarded and occupied a Venezuelan tuna fishing vessel 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 U.S. military strike in the Caribbean killed 11 people and sank a boat from Venezuela that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration claimed was transporting illegal narcotics.

The Trump administration has provided scant information about last week’s attack,

See Full Page