Venezuela announced this Friday that, as part of a joint operation with the United States, An oil tanker returns to the waters of the South American country that it had left “without payment or authorization from the authorities” and that it had been seized this morning.
According to a brief statement from the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and the state oil company PDVSA, it is a “successful joint operation” from Caracas and Washington to “the return to the country of the ship Minerva”.
“Thanks to this first successful joint operation, the ship is sailing back to Venezuelan waters for safekeeping and pertinent actions,” adds the official text.
Caracas makes this announcement after the American president, Donald Trumpstated that his country’s forces They intercepted the oil tanker ‘Olina’ this Friday in waters of Caribbean “in coordination with the interim authorities of Venezuela,” after the ship, he said, left the country “without the corresponding authorization.”
“This tanker is now on its way back to Venezuela. The Oil will be sold through the GREAT Energy Dealwhich we have created for such sales,” he indicated on his Truth Social network.
The operation was carried out as a coordinated action between the Department of Defense and Homeland Security (DHS) before dawn and included the participation of the Bolivarian Marine Infantry (IMB), which departed in helicopters from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to carry out the boarding, the Southern Command reported in a statement.
The US command assured that the action sends a “clear message” that “There is no safe haven for criminals”within the framework of Washington’s efforts to combat “transnational illegal activities” in the Western Hemisphere, although they did not specify the number of detainees and stressed that the operation was carried out without resistance.
According to the New York TimesOlina, formerly called Minerva M, is sanctioned by the United States alleging its role in financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by transporting Russian energy exports to foreign markets.
The operation between Caracas and Washington takes place on the same day that the Government of the president in charge of Venezuela, the Chavista Delcy Rodriguezwill report a “exploratory diplomatic process” with the US aimed at the “reestablishment of diplomatic missions”, almost a week after the attack by the North American nation on Venezuelan territory that ended with the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.