Ship changed its name and registered in Russia in apparent attempt to prevent possible US seizure near British Isles

A hastily reflagged oil tanker 250 miles off the coast of Ireland is under US military surveillance after it evaded capture in the Caribbean Sea in December, changed its name and switched course towards northern Russia.

Bella 1 changed its name to the Marinera, registered in Russia, and its crew painted a crude Russian flag on the side in an apparent attempt to prevent a possible US seizure near the British Isles.

Washington keeping 15,000-strong military presence in Caribbean in case interim president hinders US objectives

The prospect of the United States seizing direct control of Venezuela appeared to recede on Sunday after the shocking ousting of president Nicolás Maduro – but US officials warned they might make a fresh military intervention if interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, did not accommodate their demands.

Speaking to reporters late Sunday, Donald Trump also raised the possibility of military action in Colombia.

Technocrat must accommodate US demands while shoring up a regime that is hated by many Venezuelans

• US attacks Venezuela – live updates

In her first speech as Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez lambasted the US and pledged fealty to Nicolás Maduro. But the Trump administration has made a cold calculation: she will bow to Washington.

Rodríguez is a political veteran who served as Maduro’s vice-president and oil minister and defended the regime against accusations of terrorism, drug-running and election-stealing, yet for now she is Donald Trump’s favoured option to lead Venezuela. “She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said.

Maduro and Chávez used fears of American aggression to tighten their grip on power – but now an even greater fantasist has imposed his will on their country

• Nicolás Maduro jailed in New York – live updates

• The ‘Putinisation’ of US foreign policy has arrived in Venezuela

It was the fever dream of the revolution, a dark fantasy spun so many times – each version wilder than the last – until it almost became a joke: the Yankees are coming.

Hugo Chávez, who ruled Venezuela from 1999 to 2013, conjured the scenario again and again, warning that the US president and his henchmen in the CIA and Pentagon were mobilising forces to strike.