The United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Trump announced on Wednesday, an escalation in his administration’s pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela.
“As you probably know, we’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela,” Mr. Trump said during a White House event on the launch of a new luxury visa program. “A large tanker, very large. Largest one ever seized, actually, and other things are happening.”
Mr. Trump did not offer any additional details of the operation, but two U.S. officials said the Coast Guard seized the tanker on Wednesday morning in international waters off Venezuela. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a military operation, said that the seizure came after “deliberate planning” and that there was no resistance from the crew. There were no casualties as part of the operation, the officials said.
Since September, the United States has been attacking boats in the region that the Trump administration says are smuggling drugs. The military has launched 22 known strikes, killing more than 80 people.
Mr. Trump also has ordered a massive buildup of U.S. forces in the region, with more than 15,000 troops and a dozen ships in the Caribbean. Mr. Trump has authorized covert action against Venezuela and has warned that the United States could “very soon” expand its attacks from boats off the Venezuelan coast to targets inside the country. But Mr. Trump has also recently spoken by phone with Mr. Maduro about a possible meeting.
The administration has developed a range of options of military action in the country, ranging from targeting Mr. Maduro to seizing control of the country’s oil fields. The president has repeatedly expressed reservations about an operation to take out Mr. Maduro, aides say, in part because of a fear that the operation could fail.
The operation came on the same day the Nobel Peace Prize was formally bestowed on a Venezuelan dissident, María Corina Machado. Her daughter received the prize on her behalf in Oslo.
As a sign of sensitivity of the seizure, the Navy, Coast Guard and Southern Command and Pentagon all declined to discuss the episode, referring all questions to the White House.
Carol Rosenberg contributed to this report.
Tyler Pager is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
The post U.S. Seizes Oil Tanker Off Venezuelan Coast, Trump Says appeared first on New York Times.
