{"id":627048,"date":"2025-12-11T21:37:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T21:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/627048\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T21:37:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T21:37:29","slug":"pressure-on-maduro-grows-after-us-seizes-dark-fleet-tanker-off-coast-of-venezuela-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/627048\/","title":{"rendered":"Pressure on Maduro grows after US seizes \u2018dark fleet\u2019 tanker off coast of Venezuela | Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diplomatic pressure on Nicol\u00e1s Maduro has grown after the US interdicted a \u201cdark fleet\u201d tanker off the coast of Venezuela in a move that has been interpreted as an escalation of the Trump administration\u2019s pressure on the South American dictator.<\/p>\n

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday said that the US would take the seized oil tanker, the Skipper, to a US port one day after military and law enforcement boarded it off the coast of Venezuela<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vessel will go to a U.S. port, and the United States does intend to seize the oil,\u201d Leavitt said during a briefing. \u201cHowever, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donald Trump had earlier told reporters that the US planned to \u201ckeep\u201d the oil on board the tanker.<\/p>\n

Asked whether she viewed the seizure as an escalation of US pressure against Maduro, she said: \u201cI think the president considers the seizure of the oil tanker as effectuating the administration\u2019s sanctions policies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProlonged war is definitely not something this president is interested in,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Reuters on Thursday citing anonymous sources said that the US is preparing to seize more oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela. Asked whether the US would do so, Leavitt said: \u201cWe\u2019re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin<\/a>, called Maduro on Thursday after the rare seizure to \u201creaffirm\u201d Russia\u2019s support for the current Venezuelan government, despite calls from the Trump administration, other countries in the region and Venezuelan opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado for him to step down.<\/p>\n

A Kremlin readout of the call said Putin called Maduro to express \u201csolidarity\u201d with the Venezuelan people and to continue to build economic and energy cooperation, which includes offshore oil ventures in the Caribbean Sea.<\/p>\n

Senior Democratic lawmakers and at least one Republican have condemned the seizure of the oil tanker, with one saying<\/a> Trump was \u201csleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela\u201d.<\/p>\n

Maduro has reacted defiantly to US pressure and his government called the oil tanker seizure<\/a> \u201cblatant theft\u201d and \u201can act of international piracy\u201d, adding it would \u201cdefend its sovereignty, natural resources and national dignity with absolute determination\u201d.<\/p>\n

But neighbouring countries have said Maduro\u2019s exit could help pave a way to the end of the crisis. In a radio interview on Thursday, Colombia\u2019s foreign affairs minister, Rosa Villavicencio, indicated her government would be willing to offer Maduro a place to live or \u201cprotection\u201d if needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cColombia would have no reason to say no,\u201d Villavicencio said, although she believed he would be more likely to go somewhere further away. It was the first time a senior Colombian official had said Maduro could receive asylum in the country, although Villavicencio had previously discussed the potential for a transitional government.<\/p>\n

\"WhyWhy is Trump attacking Venezuelan boats? | The Latest<\/p>\n

That followed a public statement by Colombia\u2019s leftwing president, Gustavo Petro, on Wednesday: \u201cIt is time for a general amnesty and a transitional government with the inclusion of all and everyone,\u201d Petro said, adding that he opposed an \u201cinvasion by foreigners\u201d of Venezuela, pushing back against direct action by the US.<\/p>\n

Celso Amorim, a top adviser to Brazil\u2019s leftwing president, Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, earlier this week told the Guardian that \u201casylum is a Latin American institution [for] people of both right and left\u201d but added that he did not want to speculate, \u201cso as not to appear to be encouraging\u201d the idea.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Oslo on Thursday after being awarded the Nobel peace prize, Machado repeated her call for Maduro to step down<\/a> and predicted he would soon have no choice but to leave Venezuela. \u201cHe\u2019s going out,\u201d she insisted, although so far the autocrat has shown no sign of being willing to relinquish power after nearly 13 years as president.<\/p>\n

At a rally on Wednesday, Maduro urged his supporters to be ready to \u201cto smash the teeth of the North American empire if necessary\u201d. In an apparent bid to project nonchalance, he also danced to the sound of the Bobby McFerrin song Don\u2019t Worry Be Happy.<\/p>\n

Ricardo Hausmann, a former Venezuelan minister and opposition supporter, said he believed dramatically increasingly US military pressure on Maduro was the only way to force him out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf <\/strong>you know [you\u2019re going to] confront some kinetic threats by a credible military force, then suddenly going into exile sounds that much more attractive,\u201d Hausmann said. \u201cThat\u2019s why my preference would be to clearly use the military threat to convince Maduro to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf staying in power means that you may get missiles thrown at you, like [Iranian general Qasem] Soleimani, then you might want to consider seriously whether you want to stay in power,\u201d Hausmann added.<\/p>\n

Maduro was democratically elected in 2013, inheriting the Bolivarian revolution from his mentor, Hugo Ch\u00e1vez, but has led the country in an increasingly authoritarian direction.<\/p>\n

The former union leader is widely believed to have stolen last year\u2019s presidential election, with an independent analysis of election data gathered by the opposition suggesting Maduro suffered a landslide defeat to Machado\u2019s ally, the retired diplomat Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez. Even longstanding allies of the Chavista movement, such the leftist presidents of Brazil and Colombia, have refused to recognise Maduro\u2019s claim to have beaten Gonz\u00e1lez, who ran in Machado\u2019s place after she was banned from taking part.<\/p>\n

While the US seizure of the Guyana-flagged Skipper was quickly seen as an escalation of pressure on Venezuela, it also coincided with a number of attacks on other \u201cdark fleet\u201d ships around the world that carry oil between sanctioned countries in violation of global maritime regulations.<\/p>\n

Maritime data collected by Windward, a maritime AI data company, and shared with the Guardian indicated that the ship had regularly \u201cspoofed\u201d its location and made multiple trips to Venezuela and Iran, which is also under US sanctions, and had transported oil to China.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe US seizure of Skipper off the coast of Venezuela sends a powerful message that dark fleet tankers are now a legitimate military target,\u201d the company wrote in an analysis.<\/p>\n

There are 30 sanctioned tankers operating in Venezuelan waters, the company said, including seven that are falsely flagged and operating off the coastline.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite flouting global maritime regulations that underpin global trade, hundreds of these tankers have operated around the world unchallenged \u2013 until now,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration framed Wednesday\u2019s seizure as a law enforcement action, noting that the US Coast Guard led the operation and directing the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to announce the seizure.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations,\u201d she said. \u201cThis seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely \u2013 and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Diplomatic pressure on Nicol\u00e1s Maduro has grown after the US interdicted a \u201cdark fleet\u201d tanker off the coast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-627048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115703097517351218","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}