The US Coast Guard, in cooperation with the Pentagon, has seized another oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Friday.
What do we know so far?
“The United States will continue to block the illicit transportation of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco-terrorism in the region,” Noem said, posting a declassified video of the alleged incident. It did not provide concrete evidence that the tanker’s activities were being used to finance narco-terrorism.
The White House has not yet provided further details about the seizure.
MarineTraffic, which monitors the ship, said the crude oil tanker flies under the Panamanian flag and was recently active off the Venezuelan coast.
This is the second time the US has seized an oil tanker near Venezuela. US President Donald Trump has ordered a blockade, where US ships would seize any sanctioned oil tankers entering or exiting Venezuela.
Jeremy Penner, a partner at the Washington, DC-based Hughes Hubbard law firm, told Reuters news agency that the tanker was not the target of US sanctions.
“The seizure of a ship not sanctioned by the US marks a further increase in Trump’s pressure on Venezuela,” Paner said.
Brazil, Argentina divided over Trump’s aggressive Venezuela policy
The move comes as Trump has not ruled out a possible war against the government of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned at the Mercosur summit on Saturday that the US military operation in Venezuela could lead to a “humanitarian catastrophe for the hemisphere and a dangerous precedent for the world”.
Potential US military intervention in Latin America would open old wounds in the region, with Washington previously supporting several coups in the region, including in Brazil during the Cold War. Furthermore, the US conflict with Venezuela could increase the flow of Venezuelan refugees to Brazil and other neighboring countries in the region.
Meanwhile, Argentina’s right-wing libertarian President Javier Meili said his country “welcomes the pressure from the United States and Donald Trump to free the Venezuelan people. The time for a timid approach to this matter is over.”
Under Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chávez, Venezuela has seen hyperinflation, severe poverty and food insecurity. Maduro’s victory in previous elections was met with protests and accusations that his rule is illegitimate.