Venezuelan opposition chief Maria Corina Machado on Friday (Dec 12) promised political change after slipping in another country in secret to gather the Nobel Peace Prize, because the shock waves intensified from the Trump administration’s seizure of an oil tanker earlier this week.
That escalation got here on the heels of a large-scale US army buildup within the southern Caribbean as President Donald Trump campaigns to oust Venezuelan chief Nicolas Maduro, pushing relations to their most unstable level in years.
The consequences might ripple by way of the area, with Venezuelan oil exports falling sharply and crisis-stricken Cuba, already straining to energy its grid, prone to shedding provide.
The US seizure of the Skipper tanker off Venezuela’s coast on Wednesday marked the primary US seize of Venezuelan oil cargo since sanctions had been imposed in 2019.
The vessel is now heading to Houston, the place it’ll offload its cargo onto smaller ships, Reuters reported.
The Trump administration doesn’t recognise Maduro, in energy since 2013, as Venezuela’s reputable chief.
Washington has signalled extra seizures are deliberate as a part of efforts to choke off sanctioned oil flows, and subsequently imposed new sanctions on three nephews of Maduro’s spouse and 6 tankers linked to them.
The US army presence within the Caribbean has grown as Trump, in latest weeks, has mentioned potential army intervention in Venezuela, primarily based on accusations that the nation ships narcotics to america.
The Venezuelan authorities has denied the accusations.
Up to now, there have been over 20 US army strikes within the Caribbean and Pacific in opposition to suspected drug vessels this yr, by which practically 90 folks have been killed, alarming human rights advocates and stirring debate amongst US lawmakers.
Whereas many Republicans have backed the marketing campaign, Democrats have questioned whether or not the marketing campaign is against the law and urged extra transparency, together with the discharge of a full, unedited video of strikes on a suspected drug-trafficking boat.
