West Palm Beach, Florida – President Donald Trump is meeting with top national security officials on Monday, a meeting that comes as the U.S. Coast Guard ramps up efforts to intercept oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea as part of the Republican administration’s escalating pressure campaign on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan are scheduled to join Trump, who is vacationing at his Mar-a-Lago resort, in what the White House described as a “major announcement.” Trump is expected to announce plans to build a large new warship, which Trump is calling a “Battleship,” part of his larger vision to create a “Golden Fleet” of up to 50 support ships, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly.
But Trump’s gathering of key members of his national security team also comes at another inflection point in the four-month pressure campaign on Maduro’s government, which began with the stated goal of stemming the flow of illicit drugs from the South American nation but has evolved into something more amorphous.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has begun evacuating the families of diplomats from Venezuela, according to a European intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.
The evacuations include women and children and began on Friday, the official told The Associated Press, adding that Russian Foreign Ministry officials were assessing the situation in Venezuela “in a very gloomy tone.” The White House and Kremlin did not respond to requests for comment.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ivan Gil said on Monday that he spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who he said expressed Russia’s support for Venezuela against Trump’s declared blockade of sanctioned oil tankers.
“We reviewed the flagrant assaults and violations of international law committed in the Caribbean: attacks against ships, extrajudicial executions, and illegal acts of piracy by the United States government,” Gill said in a statement.
More than 10 cars bearing diplomatic plates were parked Monday morning outside the Russian embassy in Caracas. No one can be seen entering or leaving the embassy. All vehicles moved by early afternoon.
The United States is pursuing a shadow fleet of oil tankers
In the Caribbean, the US Coast Guard on Monday continued for a second day its pursuit of a sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration describes as part of the “dark fleet” used by Venezuela to evade US sanctions. The official added that the tanker was flying under a false flag and was subject to a US judicial seizure order.
It is the third tanker pursued by the Coast Guard, which on Saturday seized a Panamanian-flagged ship called Century, which US officials said was part of Venezuela’s shadow fleet.
The Coast Guard, with assistance from the Navy, seized a sanctioned tanker called Skipper on December 10, which is also part of a shadow fleet of tankers that the United States says operate on the margins of the law to move sanctioned goods. That ship was registered in Panama.
After the first seizure, Trump said that the United States would impose a “siege” on Venezuela. Trump has repeatedly said that Maduro’s days in power are numbered.
Last week, Trump demanded that Venezuela return the assets it seized from American oil companies years ago, once again justifying his announcement of a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from the South American country.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency oversees the Coast Guard, said in a Monday appearance on Fox. Friends” said targeting the tankers was intended to send “a message around the world that the illegal activity in which Maduro is engaged cannot continue, must go, and that we will defend our people.”
The scene on a Venezuelan beach near a refinery
While US forces targeted ships in international waters, a tanker considered part of the shadow fleet was spotted moving between Venezuelan refineries, including one about three hours west of the capital, Caracas.
The tanker remained at the El Palito refinery until Sunday, when families went to the city beach to relax with children who were now on vacation from school.
Music played over speakers as people swam and surfed with the tanker visible in the background. Families and groups of teenagers enjoyed themselves, but Manuel Salazar, who has parked on the beach for more than three decades, noticed differences from years past, when the country’s oil-dependent economy was in better shape and the energy industry was producing at least double the current output of 1 million barrels per day.
“Up to nine or ten oil tankers will be waiting there in the Gulf,” said Salazar, 68. “One leaves and one comes.” “Now, look, one.”
The tanker in El Palito has been identified by Transparencia Venezuela, an independent watchdog organization that works to promote government accountability, to be part of the shadow fleet.
Area residents recalled Sunday when oil tankers honked their horns at midnight on New Year’s Eve, while some set off fireworks to celebrate the holiday.
“Before, during the holidays, they would have barbecues, and now all you see is bread with bologna,” Salazar said of Venezuelan families vacationing on the beach next to the refinery. “Things are expensive. Food prices keep going up every day.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Defense, under Trump’s orders, continues its campaign of attacks on small ships in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which it claims are carrying drugs into the United States and beyond.
At least 104 people have been killed in 28 known raids since early September. The strikes have faced scrutiny from US lawmakers and human rights activists, who say the administration has provided little evidence that its targets are actually drug traffickers, and that the deadly strikes amount to extrajudicial killing.
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Garcia Cano reported from El Palito, Venezuela, and Burroughs from London.
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