U.S. seizes oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, escalating tensions with Maduro

Amna Nawaz:

Welcome to the "News Hour."

The United States today seized a tanker ship off the coast of Venezuela. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a social media post that a warrant was executed for the crude oil tanker that was once used to transport sanctioned oil from both Venezuela and Iran.

Nick Schifrin has been following this all and he joins me here now.

So, Nick, what happened today?

Nick Schifrin:

Well, as you just said, Pam Bondi just announced this, that the military with the Coast Guard and the FBI's help seized this tanker off the coast of Venezuela.

And Bondi also posted this video. You can see it there, a helicopter hovering above the ship. You can see service members rappelling down onto the ship. Eventually, they draw their guns to seize this ship. I mean, it goes without saying, but this is highly unusual to see in the Caribbean the military launching an armed seizure of a tanker.

It was announced today by President Trump.

President Donald Trump:

We have just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized actually. It was seized for a very good reason.

Nick Schifrin:

So, as you said, Amna, Bondi said that the tanker was sanctioned by the U.S. as part of an illicit oil shipping network for supporting foreign terrorist organizations.

But this is also a clear attempt to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. And it's an attempt to pressure him through economic means, in the sense that it is an attempt to pressure Venezuela's exports of oil.

Take a listen to Ryan Berg at the Center of Strategic and International Studies, who calls today a significant escalation.

Ryan Berg, Center for Strategic and International Studies: This comes at a time when Maduro is under a lot of pressure to leave. One of the key ways that he will think he can remain in power is if he has enough revenues in his coffers to pay off the people he needs to pay off.

This cuts directly against those revenue streams. And it also drives up the discount that largely Asian markets will demand for Venezuelan crude, given the risk level associated with importing it.

Nick Schifrin:

So it drives up the cost, leading to decreased demand for Venezuelan crude, which, Amna, is more than 90 percent of the Venezuelan regime's revenue.

And that economic pressure is teamed with military pressure. The Navy says that the largest aircraft carrier in the world — you see that, the USS Gerald Ford — is in the Caribbean; 15 percent of the Navy's deployed warships are there. And just yesterday we saw two F-18s fly as close to as any plane has flown to Venezuela since the US increased its pressure.

It's worth noting here, Amna, that the administration has described this as an attempt to interdict narcotics from coming to the United States. In total, we've seen 22 boat strikes, according to the U.S. military, killing more than 80 people.

But after today, it is more clear than ever that this is as much about drugs as it is ousting Maduro.

Amna Nawaz:

Meanwhile, we know there's another major event connected to Venezuela you have been following. That's the daughter of Maria Corina Machado, who accepted her Nobel Peace Prize on her mother's behalf. Tell us about that.

Nick Schifrin:

Yes, Maria Corina Machado is the Venezuelan opposition leader. She was campaigning in the election last year until she was barred from running in that election. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her effort to bring democracy in Venezuela, but she's also endorsed President Trump's pressure campaign against Maduro.

And, today, Ana Corina Sosa, Maria Corina's daughter, accepted her mother's Peace Prize in Oslo and said in her mother's name that the Maduro regime had dismantled democracy and manipulated elections.

Ana Corina Sosa Machado, Daughter of Maria Corina Machado: Oil money became a tool to purchase loyalty abroad, while, at home, criminal and international terrorist groups fused themselves to the state. We have built new networks of civic pressure and disciplined disobedience, preparing for Venezuela's orderly transition to democracy.

That is how we reach this day, a day carrying the echo of millions who stand at the threshold of freedom.

Nick Schifrin:

An official close to Maria Corina tells me tonight, Amna, that she has left Venezuela and that she is arriving in Oslo overnight. She will speak to supporters at 2:00 a.m. local time.

And on her call for a democratic future of Venezuela, the question, of course, is will today's efforts or will the overall administration efforts so far get Maduro to actually leave? Experts like Ryan Berg say not quite yet. There is an expectation among multiple experts I talked to that there will have to be military strikes inside of Venezuela to convince Maduro to leave, finally once and for all.

And, until then, he's going to assume this is a bluff or he's going to really wait out the United States. But the bottom line, the U.S. military certainly has enough firepower if President Trump does order that.

Amna Nawaz:

You mentioned those boat strikes in the Caribbean carried out by the Trump administration. We have seen bipartisan pressure to release the full video of one of those strikes from back in September. Where does that stand?

Nick Schifrin:

Yes, this is September 2, the very first strike in this campaign in the Caribbean. You see right there President Trump personally released this video back on September the 2nd.

But the administration has not released any further videos than this, including of the second strike that U.S. officials tell me killed two people that were not killed during the first strike. And, as you say, there's been bipartisan pressure to release that video, even calls, questions about whether the military commander committed some kind of crime by ordering the death of those two survivors.

Just yesterday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said that he pushed Secretary Pete Hegseth in a classified briefing yesterday to at least release that second video to all of Congress, so Congress can see.

Schumer quoted Hegseth saying they're still studying it, so no movement yet.

Amna Nawaz:

All right Nick Schifrin kicking us off tonight, thank you.

Nick Schifrin:

Thank you.