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US PRESIDENT Donald Trump announced that American forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela amid deepening tensions with the Maduro administration. The Trump administration believes Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro should face narcoterrorism charges in the US. It remains unclear under which flag the tanker was sailing.

The seizure came one day after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar described unidentified vessels as “pirates” if they do not display their flag. She made the comments outside the Red House on December 9.

Persad-Bissessar said boats that do not display their country of origin are treated as pirate vessels and do not receive the protections normally afforded to law-abiding ships.