The U.S. Southern Command reported that U.S. Marines and Coast Guard personnel boarded the oil tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea early on the morning of Jan. 9. The move is part of its “Joint Task Force Southern Spear,” whose mission is to intercept or seize “shadow fleet” vessels. This is the fifth such vessel to be boarded or seized over the last month. This has become a very risky, high-stakes military mission, which may put the U.S. Navy—either accidentally or deliberately— on a collision course of confrontation with the Navy of the Russian Federation.
The U.S. Southern Command wrote in a press release on Jan. 9, in a boastful manner, “Apprehensions like this are backed by the full power of the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including the ready and lethal platforms of the USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale. The Department of War’s Southern Spear is unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere.” These three warships are part of the USS Gerald Ford carrier group.
These operations are under the direction of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who bragged, in street-gang style, after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was kidnapped, that, “he eff’ed [fucked] around and found out.” On Jan. 7, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Donald Trump is “not afraid” to continue seizing sanctioned oil tankers. “He’s going to enforce our policy that’s best for the United States of America,” she told reporters during a press briefing. “That means enforcing the embargo against all dark fleet vessels that are illegally transporting oil,” which includes Russian vessels. ABC News reported January 6 that Trump told the new Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez to “sever” economic ties with China and Russia.
