The United States issued new sanctions targeting Venezuela on Thursday, imposing curbs on three nephews of President Nicolas Maduro's wife, as well as six crude oil tankers and shipping companies linked to them, as Washington ramps up pressure on Caracas.
The action comes amid a large-scale U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean and as U.S. President Donald Trump campaigns for Maduro’s ouster.
On Wednesday, Trump said the U.S. had seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
The U.S. Treasury Department said it imposed sanctions on six shipping companies moving Venezuelan oil, as well as six crude oil tankers that it said “have engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime.”
Four of the tankers, including the 2002-built H. Constance and the 2003-built Lattafa, are Panama-flagged, with the other two registered in the Cook Islands and Hong Kong.
The targeted vessels are supertankers that recently loaded crude in Venezuela, according to internal shipping documents from state oil company PDVSA.
Franqui Flores and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, nephews of Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores, were also hit with sanctions. The two were dubbed the “narco nephews” after their arrest in Haiti in 2015 in a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration sting operation.
Maduro and his government have denied links to crime and say the U.S. is pursuing regime change to take control of Venezuela’s oil reserves.
"The imperialists thought that our people would falter, but here no one faltered and no one will ever falter," Maduro said in reference to previous sanctions.
Wednesday’s seizure was the first of a Venezuelan oil cargo during U.S. sanctions that have been in force since 2019. It is the Trump administration’s first known action against a Venezuela-related tanker since he ordered a large military buildup in the region.
The administration is planning further tanker seizures, sources told Reuters on Thursday.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X that the FBI, Homeland Security and Coast Guard, with support from the U.S. military, carried out a seizure warrant for a crude tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
The move pushed oil prices higher and sharply escalated tensions between Washington and Caraca
Georgia and Armenia have resumed talks on their 225-kilometre border after years of limited progress, with disputes over historical boundaries, far...
China has extended the suspension of its additional 24 per cent tariff on U.S. goods for another two months, while keeping a 10 per cent levy in pl...
Russia and Ukraine are set to return to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for a fourth round of U.S.-brokered peace talks, with European participation, security...
The gunman who allegedly killed six people in Poland’s unprecedented mass shooting in central Kraków on Saturday has died in hospital, police said early Monday. The attacker had demonstrated advanced military-style marksmanship skills, according to a spokesperson for the shooting club he attended.
Poland has declared two days of national mourning after a gunman opened fire in Kraków's historic main square. Investigators are examining possible far-right influences and the discovery of three bodies at the suspect's home.
Monday marks the second of two days of national mourning in Poland as police bolstered security after six people were killed in a mass shooting in Kraków.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-aligned group towards Riyadh on Sunday (8 November), after loud booms were heard in the Saudi capital. The Aramco building was damaged by falling debris.
Azerbaijan is marking the sixth anniversary of Victory Day on Sunday, 8 November, with President Ilham Aliyev visiting the Victory Monument in Khankendi, laying a wreath and paying tribute to servicemen killed during the 44-day Second Garabagh War in 2020.
China has extended the suspension of its additional 24 per cent tariff on U.S. goods for another two months, while keeping a 10 per cent levy in place, as Beijing and Washington seek to maintain their fragile trade truce.
Russia and Ukraine are set to return to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for a fourth round of U.S.-brokered peace talks, with European participation, security guarantees and territorial disputes expected to shape the negotiations.
The bodies of 13 migrants have been recovered from a boat off the Greek island of Crete, the Greek coast guard said on Monday. A further 18 people were rescued, with four taken to hospital.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has tasked Gadi Eisenkot, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main rival, with trying to form a government after an inconclusive election. The decision, announced on Saturday, follows a vote that left neither candidate with a clear path to power.
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to host Qatar’s prime minister at the White House on Monday as efforts to end the conflict with Iran stall, with Washington and Tehran still far apart on the terms of a possible agreement.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment