The United States on Thursday moved the Venezuelan oil tanker it had seized the day before to one of its ports to inspect its crude cargo, marking a new chapter in the military campaign that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is conducting in the Caribbean against Venezuela.
Colombia and Cuba Reject the Action A day after the tanker's seizure, the Colombian government of Gustavo Petro rejected the attack and stated that his nation has no reason to deny a possible asylum request from Maduro, should he leave power in his country.
The vessel will be taken to a U.S. port, and the United States does intend to seize the oil. The tanker, named the Skipper and sailing under a false flag, was seized on Wednesday by order of a U.S. judge for its previous ties to Iranian oil smuggling, sanctioned by Washington, although on this occasion it was carrying Venezuelan crude, according to The New York Times.
Prior to Colombia's reaction, Trump had pointed to Petro as the "next" focus of his military pressure, which he has said could soon expand to ground operations in Venezuela.
"However, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed," stated White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at a press conference.
The Crew's Fate Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced that the ship's crew is "missing" and announced he will take this fact, which he labels "criminal piracy," to international bodies.
The three are part of a battery of sanctions from Donald Trump's administration that also affects Venezuela's oil sector, including a businessman and six shipping companies, and blocking six vessels.
The tanker's seizure occurred on the same day that Guyana announced the signing of an agreement with the U.S.
Furthermore, he denounced that this seizure reveals that the U.S. military deployment is to "steal" Venezuelan crude.
Another nation that condemned the U.S. seizure was Cuba, whose president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, stated that it "constitutes an act of piracy, violating international law and an escalation in aggression against that brother country."
The Treasury Department noted in a statement that Campo Flores and Flores de Freitas, known as the "nephews," were arrested in Haiti in 2015 on drug trafficking charges and convicted in the U.S. in 2016.
Guyana's False Flag The vessel was sailing under a Guyanese flag, a neighboring country of Venezuela that has backed the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean and remains in a dispute with Caracas over the Essequibo, a border region administered by Georgetown.
At his last public appearance, Trump said at the White House that his pressure campaign off the coast of Venezuela "is about many things," when questioned by journalists after the tanker's seizure.
Maduro also stated that the vessel was carrying 1,900,000 barrels of oil.
According to Leavitt, the tanker is currently undergoing a "forfeiture process" and the U.S. has an investigative team on board interrogating the crew.
Guyanese maritime authorities confirmed that this tanker, named the Skipper, is not registered in the country and denounced that this "unauthorized use of the flag" is "unacceptable."
"Anyone who gets involved in that right now is not going to do well," Trump pointed out, again repeating that attacks "on land" against groups that Washington links to drug trafficking "are getting underway."
New Sanctions Against Maduro's Relatives In addition to the tanker seizure, the Treasury Department added Efraín Antonio Campo Flores, Francisco Flores de Freitas, and Carlos Erik Malpica Flores to the sanctions list, all of whom are related to Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores.
The operation was carried out jointly with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of War (formerly Defense), and the Coast Guard, added officials to expand military cooperation between the two countries.
The vessel was intercepted in a major operation, with heavily armed U.S. personnel boarding the vessel from helicopters and fast boats.
