Shelby Holliday

It boarded the ship this morning with a ton of firepower and special forces.

And this rusty old oil tanker became a flashpoint in U.S.-Russia relations.

One of the strategies that the U.S.

has articulated is not just that it wants to control Venezuela, but it wants to get rid of Russian influence, Iranian influence, Chinese influence across the Western Hemisphere.

And so that could potentially be why the U.S.

thought it was so important to seize this tanker, was just to show the Kremlin that these tankers will not be tolerated in America's backyard.

Can we expect any pushback or blowback from Russia on this?

Russia put out a statement saying that it hopes the US treats the people on board humanely and that it expects them to return to their homeland as soon as possible.

It hasn't indicated that it will retaliate, but that is certainly a concern for authorities.

So these tankers are known as dark fleet tankers.

They essentially hide what they're transporting.

They transport Venezuelan oil, but they're also part of this global fleet that transports black market oil themselves.

to and from countries like Russia, China, India, Cuba.

So the U.S.

isn't just going after Venezuelan oil.

It's going after all of those countries that rely on this dark fleet to carry its sanctioned oil.

Now there's a very clear new strategy that if you take the tankers out of operation, you can clamp down on this broader black market of oil.

Yes.

Illicit oil and illicit tankers that are engaged in deceptive practices.

Which then puts pressure on U.S.