US seizes second oil tanker off Venezuela in just two weeks

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The United States has seized a second oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in less than two weeks, U.S. officials have confirmed.

The operation, led by the US Coast Guard, is taking place against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

After the first seizure, several ships loaded with oil remained in Venezuelan waters for fear of being confiscated, which caused a sharp decline in Venezuelan crude oil exports.

Nicolás Maduro accused Donald Trump of violating international law and threatening peace and free trade in the region.

The Reuters communications agency reported this Saturday that the United States is in the middle of an operation to intercept and seize an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.

The fact, confirmed by three US officials which requested anonymity, takes place in international waters.

This measure comes a few days after US President Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all tankers sanctioned persons entering and leaving Venezuela.

Hundreds of Chavistas demonstrate in Caracas to protest against the confiscation of an oil tanker in waters near the country.

It would be the second time in recent weeks that the United States has seized an oil tanker near Venezuela, part of a major American military deployment to the region.

Officials did not specify in their statement where the operation was taking place, but added that the Coast Guard was leading the operation.

The Coast Guard and the Pentagon requests were referred to the White Housewho did not immediately respond to a request for comment. For their part, the Venezuelan Ministry of Oil and the public company PDVSA also did not offer an immediate response.

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he was ordering a “total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.” The group of sanctioned vessels is made up of approximately 18 vessels, all loaded with oil and located near the Venezuelan coast.

Following the seizure of a sanctioned tanker by U.S. forces off the coast of Venezuela last week, an effective embargo was established, keeping several vessels loaded with millions of barrels of oil in Venezuelan waters to avoid any risk of confiscation.

One of the direct consequences of this seizure was the drastic drop Venezuelan crude oil exports.

In the statement sent this Tuesday by Trump, the president stressed that “the illegitimate Maduro regime is using the oil from these stolen fields to finance narcoterrorismhuman trafficking, as well as murder and kidnapping.

Faced with these accusations, his Venezuelan namesake, Nicolas Maduro accuses Trump of rape “International law, free trade and free navigability”calling this measure a “grotesque threat”.

“The defense of free trade and peace in the Caribbean and Venezuela is the defense of free trade and peace throughout the world,” Maduro stressed after Trump’s threats.