US seizes another Venezuela-linked oil tanker ahead of Trump–Machado meeting

(Representative Image)

The United States has seized another tanker linked to Venezuela, U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

The latest action marks the sixth vessel targeted in recent weeks. All the ships were either carrying Venezuelan oil or had transported it in the past. The seizure took place in the Caribbean, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. military’s Southern Command confirmed the pre-dawn operation, saying American forces apprehended the motor tanker Veronica without incident. The command said the vessel was operating in defiance of President Trump’s declared quarantine on sanctioned ships in the Caribbean.

“The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully,” Southern Command said in a statement.

The seizures are part of Trump’s broader campaign to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. That effort culminated on January 3, when U.S. forces entered Venezuela and detained Maduro and his wife.

Since then, Trump has said the United States intends to control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely as part of efforts to revive the country’s struggling energy sector.

U.S. authorities say the intercepted vessels were either under American sanctions or part of a so-called shadow fleet, made up of unregulated ships that conceal their origins to transport oil from sanctioned producers such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela.

Last week, the U.S. seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker after tracking it for more than two weeks across the Atlantic. The vessel was reportedly being shadowed by a Russian submarine, and the move was strongly condemned by Moscow.

The latest seizure comes ahead of Trump’s meeting with Machado, their first in-person interaction since the U.S. removed Maduro from power. While Trump has previously described Machado as a “freedom fighter”, he has ruled out installing her as Venezuela’s leader, saying she lacks sufficient domestic backing.

A classified CIA assessment presented to Trump concluded that figures loyal to Maduro were best placed to maintain stability in the country.

*With agency inputs