33 h. ago US forces have intercepted another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, US military says

The U.S. military says U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea as the Trump administration continues to target sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela

Events

55 h. ago Moscow says US seizure of Russian tanker risks military escalation at sea

Russia’s foreign ministry accuses Washington of lowering the ‘threshold for use of force’

Events

58 h. ago Maduro is gone, but his regime is intact. The circumstances tell a story | Alejandro Velasco

In the early fray of foreign interventions, evidence is largely circumstantial. But here the circumstances tell a powerful storyAs late as Saturday afternoon, fires continued to smolder in parts of Caracas. Residents throughout the city, stunned and anxious, filled grocery stores and gas stations, stocking up before a future unknown. Everywhere the question hung in the air like the smoke still clouding Venezuela’s capital: what next?After months of military buildup, deadly strikes at sea and a looming ground war, the United States made good on its threats to attack Venezuela in a dramatic overnight raid that ended with Nicolás Maduro in a New York City jail cell. Yet 48 hours later, little else appeared different in Caracas: Maduro’s inner circle remained in place; state institutions remained in their control; streets were calm, if tense, while authorities called on people to return to their daily lives. In other words: move along, nothing to see here.Alejandro Velasco is an associa...

Politics

8 d. ago Venezuela open to talks on drug trafficking, says Maduro, but refuses to comment on reported US strike on land

President Nicolás Maduro reiterated his belief that the US wants to force a change of government in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves Venezuela is open to negotiating an agreement with the US to combat drug trafficking, the country’s president Nicolás Maduro has said, but he declined to comment on a reported CIA-led strike on a Venezuelan docking area that Donald Trump claimed was used by cartels.Maduro, in the pre-recorded interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, reiterated his belief that the US wants to force a change of government in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through its months-long pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago US coastguard boards tanker carrying Venezuelan oil in Caribbean

The vessel is the second to be intercepted by American forces as Trump steps up pressure on Maduro

Events

3 w. ago A look at the US military's unusually large force near Venezuela

The U.S. military has amassed an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off the coast of Venezuela since this summer, when the Trump administration first began to shift assets to the region as part of its anti-drug trafficking operations

Events

3 w. ago Trump orders blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela

Move against all sanctioned vessels comes amid escalating campaign against authoritarian leader Nicolás MaduroDonald Trump has ordered “a total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.The move comes amid an escalating campaign by the Trump administration against Maduro that has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed dozens of people. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Trump orders blockade of oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela

Move against all sanctioned vessels comes amid escalating campaign against authoritarian leader Nicolás MaduroDonald Trump has ordered “a total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.The move comes amid an escalating campaign by the Trump administration against Maduro that has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed dozens of people. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Trump’s approach to Venezuela repeats the mistakes of the past | Austin Sarat

Congress must work to stop the president from leading us further into a South American quagmireDonald Trump seems determined to have a military confrontation with Venezuela. He has deployed a massive military arsenal in and around the Caribbean Sea and taken a series of provocative actions off the Venezuelan coast, justifying it as necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.The Council on Foreign Relations says that deployment includes an “aircraft carrier, destroyers, cruisers, amphibious assault ships, and a special forces support ship. A variety of aircraft have also been active in the region, including bombers, fighters, drones, patrol planes, and support aircraft.” This is the largest display of American military might in the western hemisphere since we invaded Panama in 1989.Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College, is the author or editor of more than 100 books, including Gruesome Spectacles: Bot...

Politics