The Trump administration continued its stress marketing campaign towards Venezuela’s president over the weekend, imposing a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers touring to and from the nation.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The Trump administration says the Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker linked with Venezuela.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
That is one in all a number of developments over the weekend within the U.S. marketing campaign towards the federal government of President Nicolas Maduro. The U.S. is attempting to implement a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers touring to and from Venezuela.
INSKEEP: OK. There’s loads to compensate for right here, so NPR’s Carrie Kahn is monitoring all of it from Rio de Janeiro. Carrie, welcome.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Hello.
INSKEEP: Phrases to outline right here – what does america imply once they say they’re pursuing a tanker?
KAHN: Proper. Now we have restricted official data on the scenario proper now within the Caribbean. The Pentagon and the Coast Guard is referring all inquiries to the White Home, which isn’t commenting. However late yesterday, one U.S. official who was not approved to talk publicly did inform NPR the Coast Guard was in, quote, “lively pursuit” of a ship. The officers stated that ship, the tanker, was, quote, a “darkish fleet vessel” making an attempt to illegally evade sanctions. The official additionally acknowledged that the tanker was flying a false flag and underneath a judicial seizure order.
INSKEEP: What’s a darkish fleet vessel?
KAHN: Often, these are oil tankers that use plenty of misleading practices to evade worldwide sanctions, like they fly faux nationwide flags. However this isn’t the one ship the U.S. focused over the weekend. Within the predawn hours Saturday – and that is in accordance with a social media put up by U.S. Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem. She stated the Coast Guard, with the assistance from the navy that is on the market within the Caribbean, apprehended a unique oil tanker that was final docked in Venezuela. In keeping with information from the monitoring group TankerTrackers.com, the ship was not underneath U.S. sanctions, although. A White Home spokeswoman later then posted on social media that the tanker was flying underneath a false flag, and once more, TankerTrackers.com says it was a Panamanian flag.
INSKEEP: OK. So we have two ships, one seized, one being pursued in some trend. There was additionally this third ship earlier this month that the U.S. seized. What does this add as much as? What’s america actually doing?
KAHN: Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem stated in that posting on social media that the U.S. is combating narcoterrorism, which the U.S. says Venezuela funds by means of its oil gross sales. However then when that White Home spokeswoman additionally posted, Anna Kelly, in her social media put up, she gave one other argument that we have been listening to loads from President Trump – that the oil in these tankers is stolen from the U.S. And should you bear in mind final week when President Trump introduced that he was going to place this complete and full blockade towards Venezuelan oil and the sanctioned tankers, he stated extra navy stress would come – and I will quote – till “they return to america of America the entire oil, land and different property that” Venezuela stole from us. It is not totally clear what President Trump is referring to. Venezuela, in fact, denies they’ve stolen something and says Trump’s true intentions are out within the open now. He simply desires Venezuela’s pure assets and its huge oil reserves – among the many largest on this planet.
INSKEEP: How’s Venezuela responding?
KAHN: Publicly, Steve, the federal government put out a press release condemning Saturday’s seizure. Maduro put out a video accusing the U.S. of piracy and theft. He is referred to as for the U.N. to intervene. Bear in mind, the U.S. can also be hanging small boats within the Caribbean and the jap Pacific that it claims are transporting medicine, killing not less than 104 folks in not less than 28 strikes to date. Maduro mentions all of this in rallies that he is holding loads as of late. And he is additionally giving lengthy speeches on state TV the place he insists he simply desires peace, not struggle. He actually likes saying that in English. And currently, he is even printed it on a MAGA-style purple hat you see him sporting loads, too.
INSKEEP: NPR’s Carrie Kahn is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Carrie, thanks a lot.
KAHN: You are welcome, Steve.
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