The US Treasury imposed new sanctions Thursday against three of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s relatives as well as six companies shipping the South American country’s oil.<\/p>\n
The move came as the White House said it will bring an oil tanker seized by American forces off the Venezuelan coast to a port in the United States, adding to growing fears of open conflict between the two countries, reported AFP6.<\/p>\n
Washington took control of the tanker in a dramatic raid that saw US forces rope down from a helicopter onto the vessel in an operation that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said was aimed at Maduro’s “regime.”<\/p>\n
Treasury officials said three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, were being slapped with sanctions, labeling two of the men “narco-traffickers operating in Venezuela.”<\/p>\n
“Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump’s administration has been piling pressure on Venezuela for months with a major naval buildup in the region that has been accompanied by strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats that have killed close to 90 people.<\/p>\n
Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed support during a phone call with his ally Maduro, but with Moscow’s forces tied down in a grinding war in Ukraine, its capacity to provide aid is limited.<\/p>\n
“The vessel will go to a US port and the United States does intend to seize the oil,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists of the tanker.<\/p>\n
“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black-market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narco-terrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world.”<\/p>\n
Earlier on Thursday, Noem told a congressional hearing that the tanker operation was “pushing back on a regime that is systematically covering and flooding our country with deadly drugs” — a reference to US allegations of narcotics smuggling by Maduro’s government.<\/p>\n
A video released Wednesday by US Attorney General Pam Bondi showed American forces descending from a helicopter onto the tanker’s deck, then entering the ship’s bridge with weapons raised.<\/p>\n
Bondi said the ship was part of an “illicit oil shipping network” that was used to carry sanctioned oil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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