US slaps fresh sanctions on Venezuela amid escalated tensions
The United States has announced new sanctions on Venezuela, mounting more pressure on the energy-rich Latin American nation.
The US Treasury Department said on Thursday that the fresh sanctions target 6 oil tankers and shipping companies linked to them, as well as family members of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores.
It said the shipping companies and supertankers are “engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime”.
Four of the tankers, including the 2002-built H Constance and the 2003-built Lattafa, are Panama-flagged, with the other two flagged by the Cook Islands and Hong Kong.
US President Donald Trump threatened once more on Thursday night to soon begin strikes on suspected narcotics shipments making their way via land from Venezuela to the US.
Trump's comments followed the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.
Iran blasted the seizure, calling it state-sponsored maritime piracy.
Tehran urged governments and international organizations to oppose such bullying and hold Washington accountable for its actions.
Colombia’s President Gustov Petro also slammed the move by the US, describing it as oil piracy.
The US seizure of the tanker comes amid an intense US military campaign in the Caribbean, including 22 lethal strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats since September that have killed more than 80 people.
Legal experts see the attacks as illegal, extrajudicial killings and possible war crimes, reminiscent of the impunity often attributed to the Israeli regime killing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
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