US forces on Saturday stopped a vessel off the coast of Venezuela for the second time in less than two weeks as US president Donald Trump continues to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
The move, which was confirmed by two US officials familiar with the matter, comes days after Mr Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of the South American country and follows the December 10th seizure by US forces of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.
The officials were not authorised to discuss publicly the continuing military operation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The action was described as a “consented boarding”, with the tanker stopping voluntarily and allowing US forces to board it, one official said.
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The Pentagon and White House officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr Trump earlier this month announced that the coastguard had seized an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea and vowed that the US would carry out a blockade of Venezuela.
It all comes as Mr Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric toward Mr Maduro and warned that the long-time Venezuelan leader’s days in power are numbered.
Mr Trump this week demanded that Venezuela return assets it seized from US oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of a “blockade” against oil tankers travelling to or from the country that face US sanctions.
Mr Trump cited the lost US investments in Venezuela when asked about his newest tactic in a pressure campaign against Mr Maduro, suggesting the Republican administration’s moves are at least somewhat motivated by disputes over oil investments, along with accusations of drug trafficking.
Some sanctioned tankers already are diverting away from Venezuela.
“We’re not going to be letting anybody going through who shouldn’t be going through,” Mr Trump told reporters.
“You remember they took all of our energy rights. They took all of our oil not that long ago. And we want it back. They took it – they illegally took it.”
– AP
