Good evening. I'm John Yang. President Trump's pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro

mounted today as the Coast Guard went after another oil tanker that U.S. officials say was helping

Venezuela get around sanctions. If they intercept it, it would be the third time in less than two weeks

and the second time this weekend. Yesterday, the Coast Guard stopped and

bordered a Panamanian flagtacker carrying Venezuela crude oil to Asia. Venezuela called it

theft and hijacking. Last week, President Trump announced a total and complete blockade of

all sanctioned tankers headed to and from Venezuela. Idris Ali is a national security correspondent for Reuters.

Idris, what's the latest?

What do we know about today's pursuit?

Yeah, this has been a pretty busy weekend when it comes to Coast Guard activity around Venezuela.

And so what we know basically is that earlier today on Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard

with help from the U.S. Navy tried to interdict a vessel that was sanctioned by the United States

and has historically carried oil to and from Venezuela. The latest reporting we have is that

this pursuit is still ongoing because the vessel in question has not given up,

has not allowed them to come on board.

And so it's a pretty active situation.

We don't know how it's going to get resolved, but it is in international waters.

It is sanctioned.

And so it's pretty much in line with what President Trump said the US would be doing, which

is going after sanctioned oil tankers that are carrying oil to and from

Venezuela. This all started with drug boats in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. But how much

of an escalation does this represent? You know, from the officials I've talked to and the experts

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