US tightens the noose around Venezuela with more tanker interceptions

BarcelonaThe US Coast Guard launched an operation Sunday to intercept another oil tanker sailing in international waters near the Venezuelan coast, but was unsuccessful, according to several US media outlets. On Saturday, the US seized another vessel, part of a strategy that began less than ten days ago and is increasing pressure on Caracas after weeks of tensions. military escalation with attacks on some thirty alleged drug trafficking networksOperations in which he has killed a hundred people.

At the end of last week, US President Donald Trump announced a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. The ship that was seized yesterday, named Beautiful 1The ship has been under US sanctions since last year for transporting Iranian oil. It was en route to pick up oil in Venezuela but was not carrying a load, and before it could be intercepted, it fled northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, according to reports. New York Times.

Regarding the oil tanker intercepted Saturday night, the US government has asserted that it is a "false flag" vessel that is part of Venezuela's so-called ghost fleet, used to circumvent sanctions and transport crude oil to finance Nicolás Maduro's regime. Trump has accused Maduro—whom he labels a drug kingpin—of flooding the United States with fentanyl and stealing oil from American companies, without providing evidence. "The tanker was carrying oil from PDVSA, a sanctioned company. It was a false flag vessel operating as part of the Venezuelan ghost fleet to traffic stolen oil and finance Maduro's narco-terrorist regime," wrote US government spokeswoman Anna Kelly in X. This was her response to media reports indicating that the tanker, called Centuries The Panamanian-flagged vessel is not on the sanctions list; it belongs to a China-based company that transports Venezuelan crude to refineries in the Asian giant. White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett also emphasized that the first two seized tankers operated on the black market and supplied oil to sanctioned countries. He believes this will not affect fuel prices: "I don't think people here in the United States need to worry about prices going up because of these seizures. It's just a couple, and they were black market ships." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem released a video of Saturday's operation, which involved members of the Coast Guard and the armed forces, and warned that the US will continue "pursuing the illicit movement of sanctioned oil used to finance drug trafficking."

"Robbery and kidnapping"

For its part, Caracas asserted that it was a "theft and kidnapping" by the US of a "private vessel." It labeled it an act of "piracy" and denounced the "forced disappearance" of the crew. Maduro maintains that Washington's objective is regime change in Venezuela, not to stop drug trafficking or the illegal oil trade. On Tuesday, the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting to address the situation in Venezuela, at Caracas's request.