DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Trump won’t rule out war with Venezuela

As he stammers while making excuses.

Yes wanting him gone is the same as breaking international law in order to do it.

If you're going to do it yourself by committing criminal acts why put a bounty on him to begin with? Hmmmmmm......

A wayyyyy too subtle distinction for MAGA Fanboys who n can't think for themselves.

Democratically elected leader of Venezuela not accepting the Trump appointed stooge ...

María Corina Machado vows to return to Venezuela and rejects rule of Maduro’s deputy | Venezuela | The Guardian https://share.google/LkMI2xwLXqhJppItA

https://www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7v0deypjl4o.amp?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17677760065855&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fc7v0deypjl4o

Russia sends navy ships to guard oil tanker being pursued by US forces

Russia has deployed navy assets to escort an oil tanker also being pursued by US forces across the Atlantic, CBS News, BBC's media partner in the US, reported.

The ship, which currently isn't carrying anything, historically has transported Venezuelan crude oil and was thought to be between Scotland and Iceland on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump said last month that he was ordering a "blockade" of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, a move the government there described as "theft".

Ahead of the US seizure of the country's former leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump repeatedly accused Venezuela's government of using ships to bring drugs to the US.

The US Coast Guard tried to board the Bella 1 last month in the Caribbean when it was believed to be heading towards Venezuela. It had a warrant to seize the ship, which was accused of breaking US sanctions and shipping Iranian oil.

It then dramatically changed course - as well as its name to Marinera - reportedly reflagging from a Guyanese to a Russian vessel.

Its approach to Europe has coincided with the arrival of around 10 US military transport aircraft as well as helicopters.

Russia says it is "monitoring with concern" the situation around the ship.

Two US officials told CBS News earlier on Tuesday that American forces were planning to board the ship, and that Washington preferred to seize it rather than sink it.

On Tuesday, the US military's Southern Command posted on social media that it "remains ready to support our US government agency partners in standing against sanctioned vessels and actors transiting through this region.

"Our sea services are vigilant, agile, and postured to track vessels of interest. When the call comes, we will be there."

The Marinera was believed to be between Scotland and Iceland overnight Tuesday, with the distance and weather making boarding difficult.

Before any US military operation was launched from the UK, Washington would be expected to inform its ally.

For now, the UK Ministry of Defence says it will not comment on other nations' military activities.

The US officials quoted by CBS suggested that America could mount an operation like one conducted last month when US Marines and special operation forces working with the Coast Guard seized The Skipper, a large crude oil tanker flagged out of Guyana, after the vessel left port in Venezuela.

AIS (automatic identification system) tracking data for the tanker, which can be spoofed or faked, suggests it was in the North Atlantic approximately 2,000km (1,200 miles) west of continental Europe on Tuesday.

Under international law, vessels flying a country's flag are under the protection of that nation but Dimitris Ampatzidis, senior risk and compliance analyst at maritime intelligence firm Kpler, told BBC Verify changing the ship's name and flag might not change much.

"US action is driven by the vessel's underlying identity [IMO number], ownership/control networks, and sanctions history, not by its painted markings or flag claim," he said.

Ampatzidis added that changing to the Russian registry might cause "diplomatic friction" but would not stop any US enforcement action.

"At present, our vessel is sailing in the international waters of the North Atlantic under the state flag of the Russian Federation and in full compliance with the norms of international maritime law," Russia's foreign ministry said.

"For reasons unclear to us, the Russian ship is being given increased and clearly disproportionate attention by the US and Nato military, despite its peaceful status," it said.

"We expect that Western countries, which declare their commitment to freedom of navigation on the high seas, will begin adhering to this principle themselves."

The potential stand-off over the oil tanker comes days after the US shocked the world with the Maduro seizure from the capital Caracas. It bombarded targets in the city during the operation to extricate him and his wife on suspicion of weapon and drug offences.

Maybe because the bounty was in place long enough without anything happening.

This isn't a case where you call Dog the Bounty hunter.

It's amazing the weak excuses people come up with for breaking international law to take over a nations natural resources. You still haven't figured out what the actual end goal was here.

Trump says Venezuela to hand over up to 50 million barrels of oil to US

US president says oil will be sold at market prices and that he will control resulting the revenues.

United States President Donald Trump has announced that Venezuela will turn over between 30 and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil.

Trump said the oil, held in storage due to Washington’s embargo on Venezuela exports, would be sold at market prices and that he would control the resulting revenues to ensure the money is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the US.

Trump added that he had directed his energy secretary, Chris Wright, to execute the plan “immediately”.

“It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States,” Trump said on his platform, Truth Social, on Tuesday.

Trump’s announcement follows his pledge to “take back” Venezuela’s oil reserves and revive the Latin American country’s flailing energy industry in the wake of his administration’s abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Trump has said that US oil companies are primed to invest billions of dollars to rebuild Venezuela’s decrepit infrastructure and exploit its oil reserves, which he has falsely asserted were “stolen” from the US.

The US has no claim of ownership to Venezuela’s oil under international law, though the late Hugo Chavez did seize property belonging to American firms as part of his nationalisation of the sector.

Chervon, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips – the three biggest US oil companies – have not directly commented on Trump’s plans, but representatives of the firms are set to meet the president on Friday to discuss Venezuela, according to US media reports.

In the context of the global market, 50 million barrels per day (bpd) would represent only a modest addition to supply.

Global consumption exceeds 100 million bpd, and the US alone produces about 14 million bpd.

Mark Finley, an energy expert at the Baker Institute in Houston, Texas, said that it was difficult to parse the significance of Trump’s announcement without further details.

“Thirty to 50 million barrels over what time frame? That’ll be key to assessing the significance of this,” Finley told Al Jazeera.

“In a month, that’s essentially all Venezuelan output. In a year, it’s pretty small.”

Scott Montgomery, an expert on the global energy sector at the University of Washington, said Trump’s comments about controlling oil revenues only added to the uncertainty surrounding his administration’s plans.

“I have no real idea about how Trump might distribute the cash. There’s not much of a precedent for this kind of thing, to say the least, at least not in the US,” Montgomery told Al Jazeera.

Analysts say restoring Venezuela’s production to anything close to its 1990s peak of more than three million bpd would require massive investment and could take years.

Venezuela’s oil sector would need capital investment of about $110bn to return to output of about two million bpd, according to an estimate by Rystad Energy, a Norway-based consultancy.

“A significant amount of upfront scientific and engineering work has to be done to understand the condition of the productive reservoirs – these have changed over time, with key properties altered,” Montgomery said.

Some market watchers are sceptical that US companies will commit to large investments in the country, given their experiences of asset seizures under Chavez and the glut of oil in the global market.

ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips were awarded $1.6bn and $8.7bn, respectively, in international arbitration following the Chavez government’s nationalisation of the country’s last privately-operated oil fields in 2007. Venezuela’s government did not pay out in either case.

Chevron is the only major US oil company still operating in Venezuela, producing about 150,000 bpd.

Venezuela once ranked among the world’s top oil producers, but US sanctions and years of underinvestment, mismanagement, and corruption under Maduro and Chavez reduced the sector to a shadow of its former self.

While the Latin American country holds the largest known oil reserves, its current output accounts for less than 1 percent of global supply.

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2...er-up-to-50-million-barrels-of-oil-to-us

American tax payer money being used to takeover Venezuelan oil for major oil companies. It should be called the Chervon, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips War.

If this is still going on for a few years without some sort of vote for free determination, I might agree with you.