The U.S. military has intercepted and seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, signaling a potential escalation in regional tensions. President Donald J. Trump, who has overseen an unprecedented buildup of U.S. warships in the Caribbean and conducted military strikes on cartel drug boats, repeatedly urged Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro to abdicate in recent weeks.
The seizure is expected to further isolate Venezuela’s oil industry as other vessel owners grow increasingly reluctant to transport cargo from the country. China remains the primary purchaser of Venezuelan oil, though transactions are largely facilitated through illicit middlemen at steep discounts due to risks of U.S. sanctions.
On Tuesday, Trump declared Maduro’s “days are numbered” as leader of Venezuela. When pressed on whether U.S. troops could be deployed to Venezuela, he declined to provide a definitive answer, stating, “I don’t comment on that” and “I wouldn’t say that one way or the other.” Late last month, Trump suggested the U.S. could “very soon” target Venezuelan drug traffickers on land and declared the country’s airspace should be considered “closed.”
Since September, the U.S. military has carried out kinetic strikes against cartel drug boats operating in the Caribbean and along the Pacific coast of South and Central America. These operations follow the Trump administration’s designation of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua (TdA) and Cartel de los Soles as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, with Maduro accused of leadership ties to the latter. The strikes have resulted in over 80 suspected drug traffickers’ deaths.
