Venezuela. US intercepts Panamanian-flagged tanker near the country. On December 10, Washington seized the sanctioned vessel Skipper and confiscated the crude oil it was carrying. Subsequently, Trump ordered a total blockade on the entry and exit of the country for sanctioned oil tankers. This is part of the pressure on the Maduro government, which Washington accuses of leading a drug trafficking network. Since August, the US has been conducting a broad military campaign against drugs, in which it has destroyed about 30 alleged boats linked to drug trafficking and killed more than a hundred of their crew members. Meanwhile, Caracas rejected the seizure of the Centuries as a 'robbery and kidnapping' by the United States of 'a new private vessel' transporting Venezuelan crude. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro described the confiscation of tankers by the US as 'corsair piracy'. In a message on his Telegram channel, Maduro spoke in general terms and did not refer to the two confiscations made by the US this weekend. The Chavista leader stated that his country has '25 weeks denunciando, enfrentando y derrotando una campaña de agresión' (denouncing, facing, and defeating a campaign of aggression) and that they are 'prepared to accelerate the march of the profound revolution'. According to US media, the US intercepted a third tanker in the Caribbean Sea near the coast of Venezuela on Sunday. The status of the vessel is unknown, and it is not yet clear if it was carrying Venezuelan crude. The Pentagon and the Coast Guard referred all questions about the operation to the White House, which has not yet confirmed reports of the ongoing action. This is the second tanker intercepted this weekend under the orders of President Donald Trump, and the third after Washington stepped up efforts to cut off the flow of crude to the South American country. The Centuries tanker, reportedly, is part of the 'phantom fleet' of Venezuela. Secretary of National Security Kristi Noem reported on Saturday the seizure of the Panamanian-flagged tanker Centuries, which, according to the White House, was a vessel with a 'false flag' part of 'the Venezuelan phantom fleet to traffic stolen oil and finance the narcoterrorist regime of Maduro'.
