(Washington) U.S. forces intercepted a ship off the coast of Venezuela on Saturday for the second time in less than two weeks as President Donald Trump continues to step up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
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This measure, confirmed by two American officials close to the matter, comes a few days after Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving the South American country, and follows the seizure, on December 10, of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast by American forces.
The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing military operation and spoke on condition of anonymity. One of them called the action a “consensual boarding,” as the tanker voluntarily stopped and allowed U.S. forces to board.
Pentagon and White House officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After the first oil tanker seizure this month, Donald Trump promised that the United States would implement a blockade against Venezuela. All this comes as President Trump has toughened his rhetoric on Nicolás Maduro and warned that the long-time Venezuelan leader’s days in power are numbered.
This week, Donald Trump demanded that Venezuela return assets it seized years ago from American oil companies, once again justifying his announcement of a “blockade” against tankers going to or from this South American country subject to American sanctions.
Asked about his new tactic as part of his pressure campaign against the Venezuelan leader, Donald Trump cited lost U.S. investments in Venezuela, suggesting that the Republican administration’s moves are at least partly motivated by disputes over oil investments, as well as accusations of drug trafficking. Some sanctioned oil tankers are already diverting their route from Venezuela.
“We will not let anyone pass who should not pass,” the American president told journalists earlier this week. “You remember they took all our energy rights. They took all our oil not too long ago. And we want it back. They took it, they took it illegally. »
American oil companies dominated Venezuela’s oil industry until the country’s leaders decided to nationalize the sector, first in the 1970s and then again in the 21st century under Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez. The compensation offered by Venezuela was deemed insufficient, and in 2014 an international arbitration court ordered the country’s socialist government to pay 1.6 billion to ExxonMobil.
Deadly Strikes
The targeting of the tankers comes as Donald Trump has ordered the Defense Department to carry out a series of attacks on ships in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean that his administration says are smuggling fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the United States and beyond.
At least 104 people have been killed in 28 known strikes since early September.
The strikes have been closely scrutinized by U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists, who say the administration has provided little evidence that its targets are drug traffickers and that the deadly strikes constitute extrajudicial killings.
The coast guard, sometimes with help from the navy, had typically intercepted boats suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea, searched their illicit cargo and arrested those on board for prosecution.
The administration has justified the strikes as necessary, saying it is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels in order to stop narcotics trafficking into the United States. Nicolás Maduro faces federal narcoterrorism charges in the United States.
In recent months, the United States has sent a fleet of warships to the region, the largest deployment of forces in generations, and Donald Trump has repeatedly said ground attacks are imminent.
Nicolás Maduro has insisted that the real aim of US military operations is to force him from power.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in an interview with Vanity Fair published this week that Donald Trump “wants to keep blowing up boats until Maduro cries for mercy.”
