The US intercepted a second tanker carrying Venezuelan oil and was pursuing a third on Sunday, marking an escalation in Washington’s campaign against Caracas.
The action, 10 days after the US apprehended another tanker, shows that Washington considers “almost all oil tankers carrying Venezuelan crude” subject to possible seizure, Axios wrote.
President Donald Trump last week declared a “blockade” on sanctioned tankers going to and from Venezuela, a move that imperils Cuba, given its reliance on cheap Venezuelan oil.
But it suggests Trump’s options on Venezuela are “narrowing,” The Washington Post wrote: He has “all but abandoned the public pretense that his goal is simply stopping migrants and drugs,” rather than ousting President Nicolás Maduro.
