The United States is in active pursuit of a Venezuelan oil tanker...the third vessel the U.S. has recently targeted. Former Director for Syria and Lebanon at the White House National Security Council during the Obama Administration,

Venezuela's parliament on Tuesday approved a measure that would criminalize a broad range of activities that can hinder navigation and commerce in the South American country, such as the seizure of oil tankers.

Cuba denied it had reached out to the United States about what the region would look like without President Nicolas Maduro leading Venezuela, calling the media report "absurd and false." Cuba vice foreign minister Josefina Vidal told the Associated Press on Monday that those alleged discussions,

As United States forces deployed in the Caribbean have zoned in on tankers transporting sanctioned Venezuelan oil, questions have deepened about the real motivation for President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on Caracas.

Personnel from the United States boarded and seized a vessel off the coast of Venezuela on Saturday, according to an official familiar with the matter, as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Caracas.

Closely tied to Washington during much of the Cold War, Venezuela has gone through political upheavals over the years that now make it a major enemy in the eyes of the Trump administration.

Since September, US forces have launched dozens of air strikes on boats that Washington alleges, without showing evidence, were transporting drugs.

Two planes avoided midair collisions with US military planes off the coast of Venezuela. The near collisions involving a JetBlue plane and a private jet happened one day after another. It is another example of the current administration’s track record with air traffic safety.