Venezuela announces that Chevron ship loaded with crude oil set sail amid tensions with the United States

The government of Venezuela reported this Sunday the departure from his country of a ship of the American company Chevron loaded with crude oil, against a backdrop of tensions with Washington, which confiscated two tankers in the Caribbean Sea and is leading this Sunday an “active pursuit” to intercept a third, as part of its military deployment near the South American country.

The Executive Vice-President and Minister of Hydrocarbons, Delcy Rodriguezannounced on his Telegram channel the departure of the ship Canopus Traveler “with Venezuelan oil on its way to the United States”, in “strict compliance with regulations and in compliance with the commitments assumed” by the oil industry of his country.

Despite tensions between Washington and Caracas, Chevron operates in Venezuela in association with the PDVSA status thanks to a license from the Treasury Department that exempts it from sanctions imposed on Venezuelan crude oil.

“Venezuela has always been and will continue to be respectful of national and international legality. Nothing and no one will stop our country on the path to progress and victory!” added Rodríguez, who shared a video showing the ship.

On Saturday, the US Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noemreported confiscation of Panamanian-flagged tanker Centurieswho, according to the White House, was a ship under “false flag” is part of “the Venezuelan ghost fleet intended to traffic stolen oil and finance the Maduro narco-terrorist regime”.

Deputy White House Spokesperson Anna Kellyinsisted the ship was “carrying oil from (the Venezuelan state company) PDVSAsanctioned company”, in response to reports that the confiscated tanker is not part of the US blacklist.

This is the second confiscation, after Washington seized the sanctioned vessel on December 10. Skipper and the crude oil it carried.

A few days later, the President of the United States, Donald Trumpannounced a total blockade of the entry and exit of this country to oil tankers sanctioned by the American government, as part of the pressure it exerts on the Maduro government, which Washington accuses of running a drug trafficking network.

Caracas rejected the two seizures for “theft” and insists she will take “all appropriate measures.”

This Sunday, the United States is carrying out an operation to intercept a third tanker in the Caribbean Seanear the coast of Venezuela.

Maduro called “private hacking” these confiscations and declared that his country “has 25 weeks to denounce, confront and defeat a campaign of aggression that ranges from psychological terrorism to privateers who have attacked oil tankers.”