US seizes fifth oil tanker as Venezuela pressure campaign continues

Operation comes days aft US seized Russian-flagged tanker; US pledges to proceed blockade pursuing Maduro abduction.

The United States subject has seized different lipid tanker successful the Caribbean, arsenic it continues to people vessels sanctioned by Washington successful its unit run against Venezuela.

In a connection connected Friday, the US subject Southern Command said its forces had “apprehended” the Olina tanker “without incident”.

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It did not accidental wherefore the tanker was targeted oregon connection further details connected alleged violations. The Wall Street Journal reported the tanker had antecedently been sanctioned by Washington for transporting Russian oil.

The cognition comes 2 days aft US forces seized 2 lipid tankers, including the Russian-flagged Marinera lipid tanker, primitively known arsenic the Bella-1.

The US Department of Justice has since said it was investigating the unit of the ship, which was seized successful the bluish Atlantic, for failing to comply with coastguard orders and would prosecute charges.

Russia has decried the seizure arsenic a “gross violation” of planetary maritime instrumentality and called connected the US to merchandise the crew.

Since US subject forces abducted Venezuelan person Nicolas Maduro connected Saturday, Washington has pledged to support its blockade connected sanctioned lipid tankers. It has besides called connected Venezuela to staunch its ties with Russia and China.

US President Donald Trump has said the cognition against Maduro – which has been roundly condemned arsenic a flagrant usurpation of planetary instrumentality – arsenic good arsenic the continued sanctions and subject pressure, is aimed astatine opening the country’s immense lipid reserves to US companies.

He was acceptable to conscionable with lipid and state executives astatine the White House aboriginal connected Friday.

The US seized different tanker successful the Caribbean earlier this week, the M Sophia, which the subject described arsenic a “stateless” vessel. Panama aboriginal said the ship’s emblem had been cancelled by the state past year.

US forces had antecedently seized the Skipper tanker and the Centuries vas successful December.

That month, 4 United Nations experts said the US had nary “right to enforce unilateral sanctions done an equipped blockade”. It said the blockade constituted an “illegal equipped aggression” nether planetary law.

A radical of UN experts has much precocious said that the Trump administration’s program to indefinitely power Venezuela’s lipid manufacture represents a usurpation of its citizens’ close to self-determination.

Early connected Friday, Trump said connected Truth Social that the US and Venezuela were “working good together, particularly arsenic it pertains to rebuilding, successful a overmuch bigger, better, and much modern form, their lipid and state infrastructure”.

“Because of this cooperation, I person cancelled the antecedently expected 2nd Wave of Attacks,” helium said, adding that US subject ships would stay deployed to the region.