“The United States intends to hand over the captured tanker to Venezuela, writes Reuters.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
photo: sandsun/Shutterstock.com Source: Reuters, citing US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity
Details: This will be the first known case of such a tanker being returned by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
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The United States has been conducting operations to seize oil tankers linked to Venezuela for several months and has detained seven vessels since late last year.
Literally from the publication: “The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the tanker to be handed over to Venezuelan authorities is the Panamanian-flagged supertanker M/T Sophia. They did not say why the tanker would be returned.”
Details: Reuters notes that the US Coast Guard, which manages the interception and seizure operations, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On January 7, the Sophia was intercepted by the Coast Guard and the US Armed Forces. At the time, the administration said it was a “sanctioned tanker of the shadow fleet.”
We will remind: US officials were previously reported to be working on a license that would lift some of the sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector, allowing the country to export its oil more freely.
Prehistory:
- Last December, Trump announced a complete blockade of Venezuela’s oil tankers under sanctions.
- On the night of January 3, on the orders of Donald Trump, the American special unit “Delta” conducted an operation in Venezuela, capturing Nicolás Maduro and his wife. After that, they were sent to New York, where they will be tried.
- After the operation, Trump said that the United States would govern Venezuela until an “independent transition” of power was ensured.
- On January 5, the President of the United States put forward a demand for acting head of state Delsey Rodriguez to give the United States “full access” to the country’s resources, threatening it with a “very high price” in case of refusal.