Caracas.- Venezuela announced this Friday that, as part of a joint operation with the United States, a tanker that had left “without payment or authorization from the authorities” and that had been seized this morning, returns to the waters of the South American country.
According to a brief statement from the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and the state oil company PDVSA, it is a “successful joint operation” between Caracas and Washington for “the return of the Minerva vessel to the country.”
“Thanks to this first successful joint operation, the ship is sailing back to Venezuelan waters for its protection and relevant actions,” adds the official text.
You can read: Delcy Rodríguez says diplomacy will be the scenario for the “face to face” with the US.
Caracas makes this announcement after US President Donald Trump stated that his country’s forces intercepted the tanker ‘Olina’ in Caribbean waters this Friday “in coordination with the interim authorities of Venezuela”, after the ship, he said, departed the country “without the corresponding authorization”.
“This tanker is now on its way back to Venezuela. The oil will be sold through the GREAT Energy Deal, which we have created for such sales,” he indicated on his Truth Social network.
The operation was carried out as a coordinated action between the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) before dawn and involved Marines who departed in helicopters from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to execute the boarding, the Southern Command reported in a statement.
The US command assured that the action sends a “clear message” that “there is no safe haven for criminals”, within the framework of Washington’s efforts to combat “transnational illegal activities” in the Western Hemisphere, although they did not specify the number of detainees and emphasized that the operation took place without resistance.
According to the New York Times, Olina, formerly known as Minerva M, is sanctioned by the U.S. alleging its role in financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by transporting Russian energy exports to foreign markets.
The operation between Caracas and Washington takes place on the same day that the Government of the acting president of Venezuela, the Chavista Delcy Rodríguez, reported an “exploratory diplomatic process” with the U.S. aimed at the “reestablishment of diplomatic missions”, almost a week after the attack by the North American nation on Venezuelan territory that ended with the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
