Trump administration officials on Wednesday began outlining a makeshift strategy for taking indefinite control of Venezuela’s oil sales, as they race to maintain stability within the nation after overthrowing its leader.

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was captured in an overnight attack, some Democrats and a Republican are pushing to block future U.S. strikes.

U.S. forces boarded a Venezuela-linked oil tanker sailing under a Russian flag that had evaded a U.S. blockade, officials said.

China’s refiners, all but cut off from Venezuelan crude in the past week as the US positions itself for access to the world’s largest oil reserves, are eying a pricier alternative source — Canada.

In today’s newsletter: Minneapolis woman is shot dead by an ICE officer. The U.S. seizes a Russian-flagged oil tanker that fled the Venezuela blockade. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveils new dietary guidelines. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a woman yesterday in Minneapolis, officials said.

By Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart and Marianna Parraga WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. seized two Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, one sailing under Russia's flag, as part of President Donald Trump's aggressive push to dictate oil flows in the Americas and force Venezuela's socialist government to become an ally.

U.S. sanctions helped cause the near-total collapse of Venezuelan oil production — damage that President Trump is now using as justification for his military strike against the country.