Trump administration seizes oil tanker off Venezuela coast, US officials say
The U.S. Coast Guard led the seizure of the largest sanctioned oil tanker ever near Venezuela to cut off revenue to Nicolás Maduro’s regime, officials said.
- On Dec 10, President Donald Trump announced the United States Coast Guard led the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela under U.S. law enforcement authority.
- U.S. officials argue the action furthers counterdrug and sanctions aims, framing the seizure as part of a campaign to deprive Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelan President, of oil revenues and enforce sanctions.
- Coast Guard personnel reached the vessel from the USS Gerald R. Ford by helicopter; risk groups identified the seized ship as the Skipper, which left Jose between 4-5 December with about 1.1 million barrels of Merey crude.
- On Dec 11 the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on six crude oil tankers and shipping companies, and the White House plans to seize the oil aboard the vessel, according to Karoline Leavitt.
- Analysts warned the seizure could deter shippers and make it harder for Venezuela to export oil, while the Venezuelan government denounced it as `blatant theft` and an `act of international piracy`.
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“Piracy”: Venezuela responds to the US seizure of its oil tanker : Peoples Dispatch
According to the White House, the ship was transporting sanctioned oil. Caracas denounces the act as an attack on its energy sovereignty and a sign of Washington's true intentions in its recent military deployment in the Caribbean.
Venezuela Condemns US Theft of Oil Tanker as Act of Piracy (+International Reactions)
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuela has condemned the seizure of an oil tanker publicly announced earlier by US President Donald Trump as a “blatant robbery and an act of international piracy.” Trump claimed the operation took place “off the coast” of the South American country. “As you probably know, we just seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “A very big one. In fact, the biggest one ev…
PI Briefing | No. 46 | A Tale of Two Internationals
As Trump seizes tankers, backs coups, and pardons traffickers, a Reactionary International asserts its dominance across the world. Five years on, the Progressive International rises to confront it — and to build an order grounded in liberation, not plunder.
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro sings, dances and threatens to ‘smash the teeth’ of the ‘North American empire’
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro warned that his country must “stand like warriors … ready to smash the teeth of the North American empire” Wednesday, a moment that coincided with the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast. Maduro delivered the remarks while holding the sword of Simón Bolívar at a rally where video showed him singing and dancing to a recording of American singer Bobby McFerrin’s late-80s hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” …
Secretary of National Security Kristi Noem linked the seizure of an oil vessel off the coast of Venezuela to the anti-drug efforts of the United States in Latin America on Thursday, as tensions with the U.S....
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