They claim this is about arms trafficking but this is a test run to see what the American response will be to Chavez thugs getting into piracy and blackmail. A weak president like Obama encourages this.

From Forbes:

The Venezuelan government has seized a U.S. flagged ship and detained its captain for more than a week.

Since August 29 the ship Ocean Atlas has been at port in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where it docked to unload a cargo of equipment. Yet after four hours in port, the ship was boarded and searched by armed security personel, and the captain was detained on suspicion of trafficking in arms or drugs.

The rest of the crew of 15 Americans has remained on board under guard. According to a well-placed source arrest warrants have been issued for all of the crewmembers, who are to be taken off the ship for questioning.

Forbes also has a number of statements made by a crew member via Facebook. This is a clear provocation that Democrats will let go unanswered, encouraging further outrages by the communist regime there.