The US has taken two oil tankers it says are part of a "shadow fleet" moving Venezuelan oil. It's the latest development in tensions between Venezuela and the US, which has a strong interest in Venezuelan oil reserves.
00:00U.S. forces seize a sanctioned oil tanker Wednesday, after a weeks-long pursuit across the Atlantic.
00:07Along the way, the ship changed its name and registered itself in Russia, but the U.S. kept up the chase.
00:14Washington says this is part of a so-called ghost fleet, helping countries like Venezuela and Russia bypass its sanctions.
00:22Russia slammed the operation as a violation of maritime law, but the White House says it wasn't really a Russian ship,
00:28and that the seizure was justified.
00:30This was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that has transported sanctioned oil.
00:35The vessel was deemed stateless after flying a false flag, and it had a judicial seizure order,
00:42and that's why the crew will be subject to prosecution.
00:46This is just one part of a U.S. campaign to secure access to Venezuela's oil reserves,
00:51the largest known in the world, and bring a new government to the country.
00:55Last week, a U.S. operation captured Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro.
01:00He faces narco-terrorism and other charges in a New York court.
01:04And the U.S. has been seizing other ships, too, including this one in the Caribbean, also on Wednesday,
01:09as Washington tries to, quote, quarantine Venezuelan oil.
01:14U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington will sell the oil it gets from Venezuela
01:19and so-called ghost fleet ships it captures.
01:21We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil.
01:24We're going to sell it in the marketplace, at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting.
01:29That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed
01:33in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime.
01:37Some observers say the strategy of taking tankers doesn't come without costs, though.
01:42The most recent seizure of the Russian-flagged ship could spark tension with Moscow.
01:47And then there are the unknowns of what comes next.
01:49What will happen to the tanker?
01:51How long will the seizing authority be willing to keep this tanker at port?
01:58Will it pay for the maintenance?
01:59What will happen to the crew and the cargo?
02:02These are questions that have traditionally deterred coastal states from taking such actions.
02:07The U.S. is really reshaping the playing field in this regard.
02:12But what's next in general for Venezuela is still an unknown in itself.
02:15Analysts say the seizure of the Russian-flagged ship is an example of how the Trump administration operates.
02:22It does seem consistent with an overarching theme, both with respect to Venezuela and how this president approaches foreign policy in general, of taking the oil, quite literally in this case.
02:34And that seems to have been a rationale that ultimately convinced President Trump to authorize the military intervention into Venezuela.
02:42And the U.S. Defense Secretary says this isn't the end when it comes to sanctioned oil.
02:47That leverage will continue, as Secretary Rubio outlined.
02:50So our military is prepared to continue this.
02:54As he said, the president, when he speaks, he means it.
02:57He's not messing around.
02:59We are an administration of action to advance our interests, and that is on full display.
03:04Though calm has returned to Venezuela since the U.S. strike, the fraught situation between the two countries, it seems, is far from over.
03:11Patrick Chen and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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