Hegseth sets conditions for Maduro after new tanker seizure off Venezuela
Photo: US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (Getty Images)
The United States will continue to detain tankers leaving Venezuela until the regime of President Nicolás Maduro returns "all stolen American assets."
This was stated by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, according to his post on X.
"President Trump has been clear: the blockade of sanctioned oil tankers departing from, or bound for, Venezuela will remain in full force until Maduro’s criminal enterprise returns every stolen American asset," Hegseth wrote.
According to him, the United States will conduct maritime interdiction operations "unflinchingly" to intercept tankers carrying sanctioned oil, stressing that "violence, drugs, and chaos" will not be allowed to dominate the Western Hemisphere.
"The Department of War, with our partners at the Coast Guard, will unflinchingly conduct maritime interdiction operations — through OPERATION SOUTHERN SPEAR — to dismantle illicit criminal networks," the US Secretary of War wrote.
On December 20, the US Coast Guard intercepted another oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Commenting on footage of the operation, US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem emphasized that Washington will continue to pursue illegal shipments of sanctioned oil that finance "narco-terrorism in the region."
Background
Earlier, President Donald Trump threatened Venezuela with a US armada in one of his posts on X if Nicolás Maduro failed to return to the United States "all the oil, land, and other property they previously stole."
"Venezuela is surrounded by the largest armada in the history of South America. It will only grow, and the shock for them will be unlike anything they have ever seen - until they return to the United States of America all the oil, land, and other property they previously stole from us," Trump wrote.
As is known, Nicolás Maduro’s predecessor, the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, nationalized oil fields in the first decade of this century, forcing US and other Western companies by decree to hand over controlling stakes to the state oil company PDVSA.
US–Venezuela relations
At present, tensions between Caracas and Washington are steadily escalating into open hostility. Trump recently did not rule out a future military campaign against Venezuela.
The US president has also declared the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro a "foreign terrorist organization."
The United States has repeatedly carried out operations to seize tankers entering or leaving Venezuelan ports. For example, on December 10, US forces intercepted and took control of a sanctioned oil tanker near the coast of Venezuela.
Maduro’s government described US actions as an attempt to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves - the largest in the world.
