Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday linked the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela to the Trump administration’s counterdrug efforts in Latin America as tensions escalate with the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
Noem’s assertion, which came during her testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee, provided the Republican administration’s most thorough assessment so far of why it took control of the vessel on Wednesday. Incredibly unusual, the use of U.S. forces to seize a merchant ship was a sharp escalation in the administration’s pressure campaign on Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the United States.
Trump officials added to it Thursday by imposing sanctions on three of Maduro’s nephews. The Venezuelan leader discussed the rising tensions with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin reaffirmed his support for Maduro’s policy of “protecting national interests and sovereignty in the face of growing external pressure.”
Asked to delineate the U.S. Coast Guard’s role in the tanker seizure, Noem called it “a successful operation directed by the president to ensure that we’re pushing back on a regime that is systematically covering and flooding our country with deadly drugs and killing our next generation of Americans.”
Noem went on to lay out the “lethal doses of cocaine” she said had been kept from entering the U.S. as a result.
Asked Thursday whether U.S. operations in the region were about drugs or oil, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also gave a bifurcated answer, saying the administration was “focused on doing many things in the Western Hemisphere.” She noted that such seizures could continue, arguing that the commodities being transported were used to fund the illegal drug trade.
“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world,” she said.
The Justice Department had obtained a warrant for the vessel because it had been known for “carrying black market, sanctioned oil,” Leavitt said, adding that “the United States does intend to get the oil” that was onboard the tanker.
Trump told reporters a day earlier at the White House that the tanker “was seized for a very good reason.” Asked what would happen to the oil aboard the tanker, Trump said, “Well, we keep it, I guess.”
The U.S. has built up the largest military presence in the region in decades and launched a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, a campaign that is facing growing scrutiny from Congress.
Trump, who has said land attacks are coming soon but has not offered more details, has broadly justified the moves as necessary to stem the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the U.S.
Venezuela’s government said in a statement that the tanker seizure “constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy.” Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the U.S. military operations is to force him from office.
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.
Trump proves every day that he has no plans – everything is by the seat of his pants. When asked what will happen with the oil in the seized tanker, he said, “We keep it, I guess…” What the hell does thst mean? It never even occurred to this moron that he eould have to answer thst question. What a bonehead! Noem, another Rhode Scholar, spent the whole day lying about rounding up the worst of rhe worst. Instead, all of the real news released a report that since October 1, only 10% of the people rounded up had serious criminal records. The vast majority had no records at all. Trump isn’t trying to Make America Great, he wants it white with his goons running amock, taking revenge on anyone who challenges his authoritah, just like a fat little Cartman!
Noem is simply out-to-lunch in trying to link drug running to oil. The whole thing Trump is trying to do is pick a fight and then do regime change, the same thing he ridiculed a host of other presidents for. From his ridiculous campaign to blow boats out of the water to the seizure of a tanker, the whole campaign stinks to high heaven. Anyone with any sense would leave seizure of boats to law enforcement. Seizing the tanker was the most obvious of all his attempts to pick a fight. He wants to distract us from the worsening economy, but we have to buy food every week and homes aren’t getting any easier to buy with the price of homes so high and being driven by corporate purchasers that then rent the homes! He’s making the now classic presidential mistake – concentrating on world affairs while thingd here go south. The difference here is, he does not use diplomacy. Everything he does involves a threat!