President Donald Trump sent a new message to Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro as he keeps escalating pressure against his regime.
In a brief phone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to say whether toppling Maduro is the ultimate goal of his military campaign: "He knows exactly what I want," Trump said. "He knows better than anybody."
There have been different accounts of the phone call Trump and Maduro held in late November. One of them claimed that Maduro offered holding free elections in exchange for keeping control of the country's armed forces, but the latter refused the deal.
Maduro also asked for global amnesty "for any crimes he and his group had committed, and was rejected," the outlet said, the Miami Herald added, citing a source. The third sticking point between the parties was that Washington D.C. demanded Maduro resign immediately, to which Caracas refused.
There has not been any apparent progress since, and shortly after the administration officially designated the Cartel de los Soles, which the administration accuses Maduro and his top officials of leading, as a terrorist organization, paving the way for strikes inside the South American country.
The Trump administration also ordered a "blockade" of sanctioned oil tankers, leading to a steep decline in its exports since the seizure of a large tanker last week.
Overall, there are as many as 11 million barrels in 39 tankers, the outlet said, quoting Samir Madani, co-founder of the firm Tanker Trackers, and Reuters.
Since the seizure, the outlet claimed, only tankers chartered by U.S. oil company Chevron have sailed through the region carrying Venezuelan crude.
Another report noted that U.S. forces could go into Venezuelan waters to seize more oil tankers. Forces are currently waiting for the vessels to leave the waters to seize them, but they could go in if they delay much, a Trump official told Axios on Tuesday.
The outlet noted that as many as 18 sanctioned ships are in Venezuela's waters, with eight being classified as "Very Large Cargo Container ships," which can carry almost 2 million barrels, the outlet added.
The official said if tankers leave Venezuelan waters the Trump administration will "go to court, get a warrant and then get them." However, if they "make us wait too long, we might get a warrant to get them there," the official added.
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