Business & Economics
US Coast Guard Seizes Second Venezuela-Linked Tanker After Trump’s ‘Total Blockade’ Order
On 20 Dec 2025, U.S. Coast Guard commandos—backed by Navy helicopters—boarded and took control of a second vessel in international waters off Venezuela, the first enforcement action since President Trump’s 16 Dec decree imposing a “total and complete blockade” on all sanctioned oil tankers to and from Venezuela.
Focusing Facts
- The latest interdiction occurred four days after the proclamation and ten days after the first tanker, the Skipper, was seized on 10 Dec 2025.
- Following the Skipper operation, the Treasury added sanctions on six additional ships, and roughly 70 tankers—38 already black-listed—remained idle in Venezuelan waters, according to TankerTrackers.com.
- Coast Guard Maritime Special Reaction Teams conducted the boarding under so-called right-of-visit authorities, with Congress still lacking a formal authorization for the widening military campaign.
Context
Washington’s use of a naval cordon to squeeze Caracas echoes the 1962 "quarantine" of Cuba and even the 1941 U.S. oil embargo on Japan—economic levers enforced by warships that risk morphing into shooting wars. For over a century U.S. policy toward Latin America has oscillated between non-intervention pledges and resource-driven interventions, from the 1914 occupation of Veracruz to the 2003 Iraq invasion justified in part by oil security. Trump’s unprecedented Caribbean armada extends the post-Cold-War trend of weaponizing sanctions and extraterritorial law enforcement on the high seas, blurring lines between policing and warfare. Whether this seizure becomes a footnote or a casus belli will hinge on how far each side pushes; on a 100-year horizon it tests the durability of international norms against unilateral blockades and signals how resource competition and sanction regimes could shape maritime order in the mid-21st century.
Perspectives
Right-leaning U.S. media
Right-leaning U.S. media — Celebrate the Coast Guard’s second tanker seizure as evidence that Trump’s "total blockade" is working to choke off Maduro’s regime and its narco-terrorist funding. Coverage is largely sourced from U.S. officials and highlights dramatic footage, omitting legal controversies or Venezuelan civilian impact and aligning closely with the former president’s talking points.
Mainstream international outlets
Mainstream international outlets — Describe the operation as part of an ongoing U.S. sanctions-enforcement campaign, noting the unprecedented military build-up around Venezuela and Maduro’s accusation that Washington is stealing oil. Heavy reliance on anonymous American officials and limited independent verification subtly centers the U.S. narrative while casting Venezuelan claims as mere allegations.
Left-leaning opinion/commentary
Left-leaning opinion/commentary — Argue that Trump’s aggressive maritime campaign is driven by a desire to seize Venezuelan oil, undermining his promised anti-interventionist stance and edging the U.S. toward another resource war. Emotive rhetoric and selective polling dramatize Trump’s hypocrisy, possibly overstating the oil motive and downplaying Maduro’s own abuses or sanction violations.