The reluctance to speak when Washington is the aggressor reveals a deeper problem: moral courage evaporates when power is involved.

If US authorities do not comply within the two month limit, the businessman's 'unrestricted release' will be ordered, Venezuela's top court says.

Leonard Glenn Francis reportedly told a court in Caracas that he wanted to stay in Venezuela to appeal for political asylum and that he was suffering from metastatic kidney cancer.

Experts say one of them – a former oil tanker – could be a way for Iran to sidestep US sanctions by transporting petroleum under the flag of a warship.

Venezuela, which is under economic sanctions affecting the oil sector in particular, is facing a second wave of coronavirus.

President-elect Joe Biden's advisers have said he would retain sanctions but shift the focus of US strategy.