US pursues 3rd tanker off Venezuelan coast

The US Coast Guard was pursuing an oil tanker in international waters off Venezuela on Sunday evening, a move seen as a possible prologue to war as the United States tightens pressure on the Venezuelan government.

It would be the third such tanker seized by the US this month.

"The United States Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion," a US official said on condition of anonymity. "It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order."

The US seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Dec 10, then a second on Saturday, both of which it claimed were transporting sanctioned oil.

"The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco-terrorism in the region," US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted. "We will find you, and we will stop you."

The Venezuelan government condemned the seizures as "a blatant theft and an act of international piracy", and said the act would not go unpunished.

"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically denounces and rejects the theft and hijacking of another private vessel transporting Venezuelan oil, as well as the enforced disappearance of its crew, perpetrated by United States military personnel in international waters," a statement from the Venezuelan government said.

US President Donald Trump last week ordered a blockade of US-sanctioned oil tankers that travel to or from Venezuela, and has said he is willing to continue seizing more ships.

"If they're foolish enough to be sailing along, they'll be sailing along back into one of our harbors," Trump said.

Critics say Trump is using the blockade to force a change of government in Venezuela, or possibly as a step toward a war with the Latin American country. "I don't rule it out, no," Trump said, despite entering office saying he wanted to stop wars, not start them.

The US military has built up a significant force in the Caribbean: 15,000 personnel, 11 warships — including the largest US aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford — plus five destroyers, three amphibious assault ships and two cruisers.

"Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us," Trump said last week.

The president has not said whether his goal was to oust Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

"He knows exactly what I want. He knows better than anybody," Trump said.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that the limits of international law were being tested.

"An armed intervention in Venezuela would be a humanitarian catastrophe for the hemisphere and a dangerous precedent for the world," he said.

Several Latin American countries and regional organizations have denounced the US actions, calling for dialogue and urging the United Nations and the international community to act, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Yvan Gil, Venezuela's foreign minister, claimed Trump wants the country's energy resources.

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, and exported an average of more than 770,000 barrels per day last year. The first two seized tankers were each carrying an estimated 1 million barrels of oil.

The US placed sanctions on Venezuelan oil in 2019. Numerous ships loaded with millions of barrels of oil are now parked off the coast of Venezuela, unsure whether they should set sail and risk being seized.

In addition, since early September, the US military has sunk more than 28 vessels — which the US claims have been carrying drugs — in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing more than 100 people on board.