Venezuela’s Oil Is a Focus of Trump’s Campaign Against Maduro
In public, the White House says it is confronting Venezuela to curb drug trafficking. Behind the scenes, gaining access to the country’s vast oil reserves is a priority.
In public, the White House says it is confronting Venezuela to curb drug trafficking. Behind the scenes, gaining access to the country’s vast oil reserves is a priority.
The U.S. seizure of a vessel off Venezuela is likely to squeeze the country’s government, but do little to counter the tankers that secretively move oil from sanctioned countries.
The United States is escalating its pressure campaign on Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, after seizing an oil tanker off the coast.
The tanker was headed eastward and had recently carried Iranian oil. The seizure is an escalation in President Trump’s military pressure campaign against Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro.
The U.N. Security Council met Friday to discuss the Trump administration’s deadly attacks on what it asserts were drug smugglers in the Caribbean.
The Pentagon has deployed 10,000 U.S. troops to the region, most of them to bases in Puerto Rico, a senior military official said.