Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado met with former President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, as the U.S. seized another Venezuela-linked tanker, part of a broader campaign targeting the country’s oil industry.
Trump Meeting and Venezuela’s Political Future
Machado, who fled Venezuela in December, is seeking support from Trump as she aims to play a role in the nation’s future governance. The lunch marks the first in-person meeting between the two.
The U.S. military’s Southern Command confirmed the pre-dawn apprehension of the Motor/Tanker Veronica “without incident.” The vessel was “operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
“The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully,” Southern Command said in a statement.
The Guyana-flagged Aframax tanker Veronica departed Venezuelan waters empty in early January, according to shipping documents from state company PDVSA and TankerTrackers.com.
Seizures and Campaign Against Maduro
Thursday’s seizure is the sixth vessel targeted in recent weeks that was either carrying Venezuelan oil or had done so in the past. The actions are part of Trump’s campaign to force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of power, which included a U.S. operation to attempt to seize Maduro and his wife on Jan. 3.
Trump has stated the U.S. plans to control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely, with a $100 billion plan to rebuild the country’s oil industry. The U.S. government has filed court warrants to seize dozens more tankers linked to the Venezuelan oil trade, according to four sources.
Intercepted vessels have been under U.S. sanctions or part of a “shadow fleet” of unregulated ships disguising their origins to move oil from sanctioned producers like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela.
Many of the Venezuela-linked vessels seized were flying fake flags or had cancelled flag registrations, according to maritime authorities in Panama, Cook Islands, and Guyana.
Last week, the U.S. seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker that was being shadowed by a Russian submarine, prompting condemnation from Moscow.
Trump has previously described Machado as a “freedom fighter” but previously dismissed the idea of installing her as leader after ousting Maduro, citing a lack of domestic support. A classified CIA assessment presented to Trump concluded that Maduro loyalists, including Delcy Rodriguez, were best positioned to maintain stability.
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