US forces in the Caribbean have seized a 6th sacntioned oil tanker with ties to Venezuela as sidelined opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is visiting the White House.Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado arrived at the White House Thursday for a closed-door lunch with US President Donald Trump, with her visit coming as US continues its crackdown on Venezuela-linked oil tankers. Meanwhile, another vessel was seized by US forces in the Caribbean on Thursday, according to the US ⁠military's Southern Command. The pre-dawn raid on the tanker Veronica took place "without incident" the US military said in a statement, adding the vessel was "operating in defiance" of US President Donald Trump's "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean." Six Venezuelan-linked oil tankers have been seized by US forces since mid-December, with four of the operations taking place after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was snatched from Caracas and brought to New York in a US military raid on January 3. Maduro's deputy Delcy Rodriguez quickly took over as interim president, and the Trump administraiton has signalled Rodriguez is ready to play ball with US plans to take control of production, refining and global distribution of Venezuelan oil. Opposition hopes dashed Maduro's ouster had initially sparked hopes among Venezuela's exiled pro-democracy oppostion, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, who called for an "end to tyranny" in Venezuela. However, Trump quickly sidelined Machado saying she didn't "have the support within or the respect within the country" to be in charge. Venezuela's opposition says Maduro stole the 2024 election from Machado's party, claims which have been supported by Washington. The opposition leader won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for advocating democracy in Venezuela despite threats from Maduro. Ahead of Thursday's meeting, Machado has been careful in recent weeks to avoid offending Trump, and even offered to share her peace prize with him, which the Nobel Institute says is not allowed. Trump talks with interim leader Rodriguez Despite calling Machado a "freedom fighter" and a "very nice woman" it is clear Trump and his advisers prefer Maduro's deputy Rodriguez, along with others in the deposed leader's inner circle, to be in charge of day-to-day governmental operations in Venezuela. On Wednesday, Trump spoke with Rodriguez for the first time on the phone, calling her a "terrific person" and praising the "terrific progress" made since Maduro's ouster. "Many topics were discussed," Trump said on social media, "including Oil, Minerals, Trade and, of course, National Security." Rodriguez said the call was "productive and courteous," and characterized by "mutual respect." Trump's oil plans Since Rodriguez took over, Trump has said the US plans to control Venezuela's oil resources indefinitely, and introduced a $100 billion plan to develop the country's oil industry. Part of the plan is also controlling illicit oil leaving Venezuela through inderdiction at sea. The oil tankers intercepted so far have been either under US sanctions or part of a "shadow fleet" of ships that disguise their origins to move oil from major sanctioned producers, such as Venezuela. "The only oil leaving Venezuela will be that is coordinated ⁠properly and lawfully," the US Southern Command said in a statement on Thursday. Last week, Trump presented his plan in a meeting with oil company executives, some of whom were skeptical of developing Venezuelan oil. The CEO of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods, went as far to say that Venezuela is currently "uninvestable" without major changes to legal and commercial frameworks. Edited by: Louis Oelofse