The United States seizes a sixth tanker

The US military announced Thursday that it had seized a sixth sanctioned tanker that Washington says has ties to Venezuela. This is the fifth such operation since mid-December, the start of the blockade on Venezuelan oil decided by President Donald Trump. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said on social media: "The tanker Veronica had already crossed Venezuelan waters and was operating without complying with President Trump's quarantine on sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean." The operation took place before dawn, "without incident," said the US Army Southern Command.

Noem pointed to the Veronica's membership in "the ghost fleet under sanctions." The ship has been on the US sanctions list targeting Russia since 2022. Its last location signal dates back to January 3 between Aruba and Venezuela. The tanker has hardly sailed since at least mid-November, according to Bloomberg data. It was then detected in the same location on a satellite image on December 20 by the maritime surveillance website Skyligh. In January, the Veronica was renamed Gallileo and, like several other oil tankers, came under the Russian flag, according to the International Maritime Organization's registry.

Noem pointed to the Veronica's membership in "the ghost fleet under sanctions." The ship has been on the US sanctions list targeting Russia since 2022. Its last location signal was on January 3 between Aruba and Venezuela. The tanker has hardly sailed since at least mid-November, according to Bloomberg data. It was then detected in the same location on a satellite image on December 20 by the maritime surveillance website Skyligh. In January, the Veronica was renamed Gallileo and, like several other oil tankers, came under the Russian flag, according to the International Maritime Organization's registry.

After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, Washington plans to take control of the South American country's oil wealth. It holds the world's largest proven crude reserves, accounting for 17% of the global total, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Less than two weeks after Maduro's imprisonment, Washington made its first sale of Venezuelan crude oil, a $500 million transaction. President Trump also met with oil company executives last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to rebuild the country's dilapidated oil industry. Although she condemned Maduro's capture, Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela's interim president, is currently complying with the obligations imposed by the United States.

The seizure of Veronica took place a few hours before Donald Trump's meeting at the White House with María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Trump has previously described her as a "freedom fighter." However, he rejected the idea of appointing her as Venezuela's leader after Nicolas Maduro's ouster, believing that she does not have the necessary support in the Latin American country to take the helm. The Trump administration therefore reiterated on Thursday that the United States intended to maintain control over Venezuela by working closely with interim president (and former vice president) Delcy Rodríguez, and did not envisage elections in the near future. The White House tenant also praised Rodríguez's actions on Wednesday following a telephone trade, as she attempts to satisfy his demands regarding the exploitation of Venezuela's oil resources without alienating the most radical members of the regime.