US tightens the noose around Venezuela with more tanker interceptions

BarcelonaThe U.S. Coast Guard intercepted another oil tanker on Sunday sailing in international waters near the coast of Venezuela, Reuters reported. This is the second vessel seized this weekend. and the third in less than ten daysWashington is thus increasing pressure on Caracas, after weeks military escalation with attacks on some thirty alleged drug trafficking networksOperations in which he has killed around 100 people.

The move comes just days after US President Donald Trump announced a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. According to sources cited by the British agency, the intercepted ship is subject to US sanctions, although the White House has not yet officially confirmed this.

Regarding the 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 US companies, without providing any evidence. "The tanker was transporting oil from PDVSA, a sanctioned company. It was a ship flying a false flag that operated as part of Venezuela's ghost fleet to traffic stolen oil and finance Maduro's narco-terrorist regime," wrote U.S. 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.