Mastodawn

Just in case you were still buying the #propaganda from the White House that this is about #DrugTrafficking, they’re making their real intentions clearer & clearer…

#Trump says the #US seized an #OilTanker off the coast of #Venezuela, amid an ongoing pressure campaign against #Maduro

It’s all about #oil.

#Hegseth #law #criminal #murder #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #Congress #WarPowers #Defense #DoD #Carribean #Pacific #InternationalLaw
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/dec/10/trump-us-politics-live-updates

Trump rebuffs questions about details of seized oil tanker and says Colombia ‘will be next’ – live updates

Trump says Colombian president ‘is going to have big problems if he doesn’t wise up’ as US makes major escalation in ongoing pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro

the Guardian

“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of #Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually,” #Trump told reporters.

Trump said “other things are happening,” but did not offer additional details, saying he would speak more about it later.

The seizure was carried led by the #USCG & supported by the #Navy, acc/to a US ofcl…. The ofcl added that the seizure was conducted under US law enforcement authority.

#oil #law #murder #WarCrimes #Congress
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tanker-seized-venezuela-maduro-0a148ba01684fc6ce1a228dd276732c0?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-12-10-Breaking+News

Trump says US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela

President Donald Trump says the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Using U.S. forces to take control of a merchant ship is incredibly unusual and marks the Trump administration’s latest push to increase pressure on Maduro. The seizure Wednesday was led by the U.S. Coast Guard and supported by the Navy. That's according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Video posted to social media by Attorney General Pam Bondi shows people fast-roping from a helicopter to the deck and later moving around with their weapons drawn.

AP News

More on the #US seizure of an #OilTanker off the coast of #Venezuela

The #USCG members were taken to the #oil tanker by helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford…. The Ford is in the #Caribbean after arriving last month in a major show of force, joining a fleet of other #warships.

Video posted to social media by AG #PamBondi shows people fast-roping from one of the helicopters involved in the operation as it hovers just feet from the deck.

#Trump #law
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tanker-seized-venezuela-maduro-0a148ba01684fc6ce1a228dd276732c0

Trump says US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela

President Donald Trump says the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Using U.S. forces to take control of a merchant ship is incredibly unusual and marks the Trump administration’s latest push to increase pressure on Maduro. The seizure Wednesday was led by the U.S. Coast Guard and supported by the Navy. That's according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Video posted to social media by Attorney General Pam Bondi shows people fast-roping from a helicopter to the deck and later moving around with their weapons drawn.

AP News

The #USCG members can be seen later in the video moving throughout the superstructure of the ship with their weapons drawn.

#PamBondi wrote that “for multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”

#Venezuela’s government said in a statement that the seizure “constitutes a blatant #theft & an act of international #piracy.”

#Trump #law #InternationalLaw #oil #OilTanker

“Under these circumstances, the true reasons for the prolonged aggression against #Venezuela have finally been revealed. … It has always been about our natural resources, our #oil, our #energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people,” the statement said.

#Trump #law #InternationalLaw #OilTanker

The #US official identified the seized tanker as the #Skipper.

The ship departed #Venezuela around Dec 2 with about 2 million barrels of heavy #crude, roughly half of it belonging to a #Cuban state-run #oil importer, acc/to documents from the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela SA, commonly known as #PDVSA, that were provided on the condition of anonymity because the person did not have permission to share them.

#Trump #law #InternationalLaw #oil #OilTanker

The #Skipper was previously known as the M/T Adisa, acc/to ship tracking data. The Adisa was sanctioned by the #US in 2022 over accusations of belonging to a sophisticated network of shadow tankers that smuggled crude #oil on behalf of #Iran’s Revolutionary Guard [#IRGC] & #Lebanon’s #Hezbollah militant group.

The network was reportedly run by a Switzerland-based Ukrainian oil trader, the US Treasury Department said at the time.

#Trump #law #InternationalLaw #OilTanker

#Venezuela has the world’s largest proven #oil reserves & produces about 1 million barrels a day.
#PDVSA is the backbone of the country’s #economy. Its reliance on intermediaries increased in 2020, when the first #Trump admin expanded its maximum-pressure campaign on Venezuela with #sanctions that threaten to lock out of the US economy any individual or company that does business with #Maduro’s govt. Longtime allies #Russia & #Iran, both also sanctioned, have helped Venezuela skirt restrictions.

…Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a member of the #Senate #ForeignRelations Committee, said the #US seizing the #OilTanker cast doubt on the admin’s stated reasons for the #military buildup & boat strikes.

“This shows that their whole cover story — that this is about interdicting drugs — is a big lie,” the senator said. “This is just one more piece of evidence that this is really about regime change — by force.”

#Trump #law #InternationalLaw #oil

Vincent P. O’Hara, a naval historian and author of “The Greatest Naval War Ever Fought,” called the seizure “very unusual” & “provocative.” Noting that the action will probably deter other ships from the Venezuela coastline, he said, “If you have no maritime traffic or access to that, then you have no #economy.”

[you have no economy…]

#Trump #law #InternationalLaw #oil #OilTanker #RegimeChange #Venezuela

Chris Johnson Dec 11

@Nonilex Never forget that Venezuela has the largest proven petroleum reserves in the world. 🙄

CrazyDogLadySezPEACE Dec 10

@Nonilex Piracy. That’s what this goon has got the United States military doing. Piracy.

I’m sorry for the people executing these orders, and I know their defense is going to be all the confusion the fascists are intentionally creating around lawful use of military, but there has to be accountability for all this.

Looking for explanations…Dec 10

@Heartofcoyote @Nonilex

Following orders is not a defence.

Seán Fenian Dec 10

@Nonilex Piracy on the high seas.

Seán Fenian Dec 10

@Nonilex Turns out there's more to this than was first reported. I'm hearing that the tanker seized off Venezuela was apparently already ordered by a judge to be subject to seizure, not because of anything to do with Venezuela, but because it is a "shadow fleet" Russian tanker smuggling Iranian oil in violation of sanctions and hiding out in Venezuelan waters.

In other words it's starting to sound like the Maladministration accidentally did something legal.

VioletNightmare Dec 10

@Nonilex So the US is doing international piracy now? Just wonderful. Truly wonderful. /s

@Nonilex wtaf? now shipping oil is illegal?

@Nonilex Was the tanker carrying drugs? Why didn’t they just blow it up and murder the crew?

@Nonilex on the same line as Iran. They do the same.

Captain Jack Sparrow Dec 11

@ch2ds @Nonilex

wheras israel merely steals land and commits genocide & ethnic cleansing

@Nonilex so the US is stealing boats now?

Edward Hasbrouck Dec 10

@Nonilex - First it was murder on the high seas, then war crimes ordered by "Take No Prisoners Pete" Hegseth. Now it's piracy.

@Nonilex felon is now stealing crude oil??