US seizes 5th oil tanker, sends team to assess embassy reopening in Venezuela

WASHINGTON -- The US military seized the fifth oil tanker allegedly linked to Venezuela early Friday morning as a team of US diplomats and security personnel arrived in Caracas, the capital of the oil-rich South American country.

The US team will assess the possibility of reopening the US embassy in Venezuela, according to a US official, after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were seized in a US raid on Jan 3.

"In a pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in support of the Department of Homeland Security, launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended Motor/Tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea without incident," US Southern Command said in a press release.

"Apprehensions like this are backed by the full power of the US Navy's Amphibious Ready Group, including the ready and lethal platforms of the USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale," the command said.

The US official said Friday that personnel from the State Department's Colombia-based Venezuela Affairs Unit, including the unit's chargé d'affaires John McNamara, will "conduct an initial assessment for a potential phased resumption of operations" in Caracas, where the US embassy was closed in 2019 with all embassy staff withdrawn.

On Friday morning, US President Donald Trump praised cooperation from Venezuelan acting president Delcy Rodriguez, announcing that a second US strike against Venezuela "will not be needed."

"The USA. and Venezuela are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure," Trump wrote on Truth Social, saying that "Venezuela is releasing large numbers of political prisoners."

Seven prisoners were freed in the nation on Thursday, and many more are expected on Friday, according to media reports.

"Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks ... however, all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes," said Trump.

The US military buildup in the Caribbean near Venezuela has reached its largest scale in more than three decades.

"At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House," Trump added.

The US president touted on Thursday night that the United States will get huge money from selling Venezuelan oil, while expecting US oil companies to play a key role in rebuilding Venezuela's oil industry.

"We're taking billions and billions of dollars worth of oil, and it'll be hundreds of billions of dollars. It'll be trillions of dollars, but we're going to be there till we straighten out the country," Trump said Thursday night in an interview with Fox News.

US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that currently part of his job is "to try to ensure that Venezuela is stable, and as the President (Trump) has directed us to do, to ensure that the new Venezuelan government actually listens to the United States and does what the United States needs it to do under our country's best interest."

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the United States will not only market stored oil in Venezuela but also control the sales of oil output from the country indefinitely.?