Politics Media: USA again seizes oil tanker off Venezuela
The conflict between the USA and Venezuela continues to escalate: according to media reports, the US Coast Guard was in the process of seizing an oil tanker on its way to and from Venezuela for the first time since an American blockade of sanctioned oil tankers came into force.
20.12.2025, 20:30
SDA
The US Coast Guard had seized a sanctioned vessel off the Venezuelan coast, the television station NBC News and ABC News reported, citing US officials. According to the report, the US military supported the operation by bringing coast guard forces to the ship and observing the operations from the air.
Trump previously announced blockade of sanctioned oil tankers
A few days earlier, US President Donald Trump had ordered a "total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela". He justified this by stating that the South American country had stolen oil, land and other assets from the USA - these must be returned. The Republican also accused Venezuela's authoritarian head of state Nicolás Maduro of using "the oil from these stolen oil fields to finance drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnappings".
In the early 2000s, Venezuela nationalized oil fields - affecting both foreign and US companies. This led to a dispute over compensation payments. In 2019, Trump imposed sanctions on the state-owned oil company PDVSA during his first term of office.
Not the first US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela
Just a few days before Trump's blockade announcement, the US military had already taken control of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. US Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel stated at the time that the ship was part of an illegal network that transported oil to support foreign terrorist organizations.
The government of the South American country strongly condemned the storming. The operation was "a brazen robbery and an act of international piracy", according to a statement from the foreign ministry in Caracas.
Things have been simmering between Washington and Caracas for months. The US military has repeatedly sunk boats allegedly loaded with drugs in the Caribbean, sometimes also in the Pacific. The US government officially claims that its aggressive approach is aimed at combating drug cartels. According to experts, Venezuela is not a drug-producing country, but a transit country - especially for the European market.
