The United States ruling class is not giving up and intends to steal more oil from Venezuela. The US Coast Guard is in “active pursuit” of an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela as tensions in the region continue to escalate and could ignite a war with the South American nation.
US authorities have already seized two oil tankers this month – one of them on Saturday, accoridng to a report by The BBC.
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Sunday’s pursuit of the vessel is related to a “sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion”, a US official told the BBC‘s partner CBS News. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”
The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of using the money from its state-owned company to fund drug-related crime, while Venezuela has described the tanker seizures as “piracy.”
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The U.S.’s seizure of these tankers is pushing Venezuela toward war. After the U.S.’s obvious war crimes, there seems to be a dramatic effort to start an armed conflict with Caracas.
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According to the New York Times (NYT), late on Saturday the US Coast Guard approached an oil tanker, which US officials said was not flying a valid national flag.
British maritime risk management group Vanguard identified the tanker as Bella 1, a very large crude oil carrier which reportedly was on its way to Venezuela to pick up oil.
The US added the Bella 1 to its sanctions list last year for allegedly “carrying sanctioned cargo”.
When it added the Bella 1 to its sanctions list, the US Treasury Department accused its registered owner of having links to Iran and of providing support Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The NYT reports the tanker “did not submit to being boarded” and fled northeast into the Atlantic Ocean with the US Cost Guard in pursuit. –The BBC
The U.S., while publicly appearing to want to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, is actively trying to set off the powder keg of war with Venezuela. The ruling class is bathing in its own hypocrisy, and it’s disturbing.