Hunting for the red… tanker. The US is trying to stop the ship off the coast of Venezuela

American services in international waters off the coast of Venezuela are chasing the tanker and ordering it to stop, Reuters reported, citing US officials. On Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard boarded another tanker; it has already detained two such units this month.

Kevin Hassett, director of the US National Economic Council, said on Sunday that two tankers detained by American services were delivering oil to countries subject to sanctions. He assured that US citizens should not worry that oil prices will go up because the raw material transported by the tankers was intended for the black market.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the tanker pursuit.

In a telephone interview with NBC News on Thursday (Friday in Poland), US President Donald Trump said that he did not rule out the possibility of war with Venezuela. When asked if he believed that the attacks on the boats of alleged drug traffickers could lead to such a war, Trump replied that it was possible. He added that there will also be further takeovers of tankers.

According to various estimates, at least 104 people have died as a result of American attacks on boats as part of the Trump administration's campaign against drug cartels in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific.

The United States has been accusing Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro of running a drug cartel and for several weeks has been attacking boats which – according to American services – are transporting drugs to the United States. Last week, American forces also seized a sanctioned tanker off the coast of Venezuela and announced the confiscation of the transported oil, the value of which is estimated at approximately $80 million. On Saturday, they seized a second tanker.

The Americans also gathered significant military forces in the region. On Tuesday, the US president announced a “blockade” of sanctioned tankers entering and leaving Venezuelan ports. He also declared that the Maduro regime is a “foreign terrorist organization”. (PAP)

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