US 'Pursues' Another Tanker Near Venezuela: Oil Is Thicker Than Sovereignty
The official line, as relayed by Al Jazeera from unnamed U.S. officials, confirms American authorities allege a vessel was 'flying a false flag' and operating under a 'judicial seizure order' near Venezuela. This comes after the U.S. seized another tanker, the *M/T Achilleas*, in February 2021, loaded with 2 million barrels of Venezuelan crude valued at $110 million. Venezuelan President Nicolás
Maduro has repeatedly condemned these actions as piracy, and one might wonder if any other nation could conduct such 'seizures' in international waters without an immediate, furious response from the global community. While Washington frets over 'false flags' on the high seas, it conveniently ignores the much larger 'false flag' of humanitarian concern often waved to justify economic strangulation
and de facto blockades. This isn't about flags; it's about control over who ships whose oil, where, and for how much. The 'rule of law' seems remarkably flexible when applied to nations that dare to nationalize their resources or trade outside the U.S. dollar, almost as if 'freedom of navigation' is reserved exclusively for American interests.