The incident involving the Resolute may be linked to Portugal, where the Resolute is flagged, the government of which is in the midst of its own set of disputes with Venezuela. Despite acknowledging that Maduro is the de facto head of state, the Iberian country has recognized his principal opponent, Juan Guaido, as the country's legitimate leader.
In February 2020, Venezuela accused Guaido, along with his uncle, of flying from Portugal on that country's flag carrier TAP while carrying explosives in their luggage. It later accused TAP of conspiring with both men to smuggling the explosives into Venezuela. Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva responded to these allegations by saying they "made no sense."
Venezuela responded by barring TAP from flying to Venezuela for 90 days. It also accuses Portuguese banks of holding a "large part of Venezuela’s stolen money," referring to frozen assets belonging to the Venezuelan government. This crisis has become somewhat moot as the COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the world, including both Portugal and Venezuela, which has led to a massive drop in global air travel.
The battle of Tortuga
