The U.S. Southern Command seized a new sanctioned tanker transiting the Caribbean near Venezuela, amid the quarantine imposed by President Donald Trump's administration on such vessels. The vessel, detained under the 'Southern Lance' operation, was identified as the Sagittay, according to various maritime traffic monitors. It had previously sailed under the flags of Panama and Liberia. The Southern Command detailed that the tanker was 'defying the quarantine' that Trump imposed on sanctioned tankers entering or leaving Venezuela. The operation was carried out in the morning, and the armed forces detailed that the seizure occurred without incident. This would be the seventh operation since the administration began the seizures and blockade of sanctioned tankers in the Caribbean, which was initiated as a measure of pressure against the government of Venezuela's deposed president, Nicolás Maduro. After Maduro's capture, Trump asserts that Washington maintains a guardianship over the Venezuelan government and has announced agreements to receive millions of barrels of crude oil from that country.
