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- US boarded boat that escaped blockade and put up Russian flag
- Trump announces deal to import up to 50 million barrels of crude
- Venezuela’s main buyer China denounces US ‘bullying’
- Oil prices fall on anticipated supply increase
- Opposition leader Machado’s hope for election on hold
WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. seized an empty Russian-flagged, Venezuela-linked oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday as part of President Donald Trump’s aggressive push to dictate oil flows in the Americas and force Venezuela’s socialist government to become an ally.
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After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an attack on Caracas on Saturday, the U.S. is continuing to blockade vessels under sanctions off the South American country, a member of the OPEC oil group. The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. military special forces apprehended the Marinera tanker, which had refused to be boarded last month and had switched to Russia’s flag, officials said.
The U.S. operation was supported by Britain’s Royal Air Force and one of its military vessels, which British Defence Secretary John Healey said was part of “global efforts to crack down on sanctions busting.”
With a Russian submarine and vessels nearby after a two-week pursuit in the Atlantic, the move risked more confrontation with Russia, which has condemned U.S. actions over Venezuela and is already at odds with the West due to the war in Ukraine.
Russian state broadcaster RT showed an image of a helicopter hovering near the Marinera, originally known as the Bella-1, as U.S. forces began boarding the U.S.-sanctioned tanker. It was empty, but Washington says it has been used to transport sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
The U.S. Coast Guard also intercepted a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil, the Panama-flagged M Sophia, near the northeast coast of South America, the U.S. officials said, in the fourth seizure in recent weeks. The tanker was fully loaded, according to records of state oil company PDVSA.
“The only maritime energy transport allowed will be that consistent with American law and national security,” Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff, said in a statement on social media. “There is unlimited economic potential for the Venezuelan energy sector through legitimate and authorized commercial avenues established by the United States.”
CHINA CONDEMNS U.S. ‘BULLYING’
Trump’s administration was also pressing a deal with Venezuela to divert supplies intended for China, Venezuela’s top buyer, and import up to $2 billion worth of crude oil.
“The United States’ brazen use of force against Venezuela and its demand for ‘America First’ when Venezuela disposes of its own oil resources are typical acts of bullying,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference.
Trump has openly spoken of controlling Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, in conjunction with U.S. oil companies, after arresting and jailing Maduro, whom he has cast as a drug-trafficking dictator in league with Washington’s foes. Maduro pleaded not guilty this week to drug crimes in a federal court in New York.
Maduro’s Socialist Party allies remain in power in Venezuela, where Acting President Delcy Rodriguez is treading a fine line between denouncing his “kidnapping” and kick-starting cooperation with the U.S. under explicit threats from Trump.
The Republican president said the U.S. would refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of crude stuck in Venezuela under a U.S. blockade as a first step in his plan to revive a sector long in decline despite sitting on the largest reserves in the world.
“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump posted on Tuesday.
Sources at PDVSA told Reuters negotiations for an export deal had progressed, though Venezuela’s government made no official announcement.
Bar chart showing Venezuela oil output has declined sharply over the past decade
Crude oil prices fell on world markets due to anticipated increased supplies released by Trump’s plan.
China, Russia and leftist allies of Venezuela have all denounced the U.S. raid to capture Maduro, which was Washington’s biggest such intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama to topple Manuel Noriega.
Washington’s allies are also deeply uneasy at the extraordinary precedent of seizing a foreign head of state, with Trump making a slew of threats of more action – from Mexico to Greenland – to further U.S. interests.
DOZENS DIED DURING MADURO’S CAPTURE
Venezuela has not confirmed its total losses from the attack on Caracas. The army posted a list of 23 of its dead and ally Cuba said 32 members of its military and intelligence services died.
Maduro, 63, who had ruled Venezuela since the 2013 death of his predecessor and mentor Hugo Chavez, pleaded not guilty on Monday to narcotics charges in a Manhattan court where he was shackled at the ankles and wore orange-and-beige prison garb.
Trump appears to be calculating that it is better for stability in Venezuela to work with Maduro’s senior allies for now. He is stressing revival of the oil sector with the help of U.S. firms as the priority, not the freeing of political prisoners or a new vote for a democratic transition.
VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION KEPT WAITING
Venezuela’s main anti-Maduro figure Maria Corina Machado, who left in disguise to pick up the Nobel Peace Prize in October, wants to return home where she says the opposition would easily win a free vote.
But she is also taking care not to antagonise Trump, saying she would like to personally give him the Nobel Prize, which he had coveted and which she dedicated to him at the time. She backs Trump’s desire to make Venezuela a major ally and the energy hub of the Americas.
While working with Rodriguez and other top Venezuelan officials, the U.S. has warned they must cooperate or risk sharing Maduro’s fate.
Rodriguez herself is under U.S. sanctions, with her foreign financial assets identified as potential leverage, one person briefed on U.S. administration thinking said.
Reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington and Marianna Parraga in Houston, additional reporting by Reuters bureaus worldwide; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Scott Malone, Alexandra Hudson, Ros Russell, Rod Nickel
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