HIBAPRESS
US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States had seized an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, suggesting it would be held amid escalating tensions with President Nicolas Maduro's government.
This step comes as part of new efforts by the Trump administration to increase pressure on Maduro, who faces charges in the United States related to terrorism and drug trafficking. Trump told reporters at the White House: "We just seized an oil tanker off Venezuela. A huge tanker, it's the biggest one ever seized." He also indicated that "ground attacks will begin soon," without revealing details about the locations of those operations, saying only that "other things are happening" that will be announced later. According to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity, the detention operation was carried out by the US Coast Guard and with the support of the US Navy. This development came just one day after two US fighter jets flew over the Gulf of Venezuela, in what is the closest flight of US military aircraft from Venezuelan airspace since the beginning of the pressure campaign led by the Trump administration. On another note, the United States has increased its military presence in the region to its highest level in decades and has carried out a series of airstrikes targeting boats suspected of being involved in drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean. Washington had offered Maduro, during previous negotiations, a concession that allowed the oil giant Chevron to resume pumping and exporting Venezuelan oil, activities that contributed to providing an important financial source for Maduro's government.
