A sanctioned tankerpursued by the forces of USAfar from Venezuela and retreated to the Atlantic Ocean, according to people familiar with the matter. The Trump administration continues its blockade which increases pressure on Caracas.
The U.S. Coast Guard encountered the Bella 1 vessel in adverse weather conditions near Barbados on Sunday and ordered the tanker to move to calmer waters for safe boarding, according to people involved in the operation, who requested anonymity.
The ship, however, headed towards the Atlantic Ocean, the sources said, with one person adding that the U.S. officials hope he does not return. At the time, the tanker was not carrying oil, according to one of the sources.
A U.S. official said the Coast Guard had not given up the pursuit and that there was a court order for the vessel to be seized.
The crew’s decision to move away from Venezuelan waters, under intense surveillance, demonstrates how the Trump-ordered blockade is harming Venezuela’s oil exports, most of which normally go to China.
The operation is part of the largest U.S. military deployment to the region in decades, ordered by the Trump administration to fight drug cartels and pressure the Venezuelan government.
Last weekend, the Trump administration intensified its pressure campaign on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, expanding the blockade of oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. On Saturday, US forces boarded an unauthorized vessel known as Centuries, owned by a Hong Kong-based entity, while separately pursuing the Bella 1. Another large tanker, the Skipper, was intercepted on December 10.
Unable to export most of its oil, Venezuela is rapidly filling its idle storage tanks and ships, increasing the likelihood that it will soon have to shut down its oil wells.
The actions against the three ships represent the most concerted effort yet to disrupt crucial oil revenues that fund the Maduro regime, which was recently designated a foreign terrorist organization by Trump due to its alleged ties to drug cartels. Maduro has so far resisted the pressure, but the blockade is beginning to limit the entry of hard currency into an already shaken economy.
On Monday, Trump warned Maduro not to defy the United States and promised to keep oil seized from another supertanker. Trump has not explicitly said whether he seeks to oust the Venezuelan leader, but earlier this week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News that Maduro “has to go.”
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Maduro’s cooperation with drug traffickers and terrorists “intolerable,” but did not specify whether the goal was regime change.
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