The United States has announced a new round of sanctions targeting six additional vessels accused of transporting Venezuelan oil, just one day after American forces seized a tanker off the Venezuelan coast.
Washington has also imposed sanctions on relatives of President Nicolás Maduro and several businesses linked to what it describes as his “illegitimate regime.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the confiscated tanker, the Skipper, had been engaged in “illicit oil shipping” and would be brought to a US port.
Caracas condemned the action, calling it an act of “international piracy.”
The development marks a significant escalation in the US pressure campaign against Maduro. In recent months, American forces have carried out multiple strikes on vessels accused of moving drugs from Venezuela, while US warships have expanded their presence in the region.
The Trump administration insists that Venezuela is fueling narcotics trafficking into the US. Caracas, which sits on some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, accuses Washington of attempting to seize its natural resources. Maduro on Wednesday vowed Venezuela would never become an “oil colony.”
Leavitt said the US remained committed to stopping narcotics flows and enforcing sanctions, declining to say whether more tankers transporting Venezuelan oil would be seized.
“We won’t sit back and allow sanctioned vessels to move black-market oil whose profits support narco-terrorism and rogue regimes,” she said, adding that the oil aboard the Skipper would be confiscated following legal procedures.
She also dismissed concerns about Russia’s response, after President Vladimir Putin reportedly phoned Maduro to express support against “external pressure.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later announced sanctions targeting three nephews of Maduro’s wife, along with multiple companies and ships, saying the measures were aimed at dismantling Maduro’s “dictatorial and brutal grip on power.”
In a post on X, Bessent said the administration was “holding the regime and its circle of cronies accountable for their ongoing crimes.”
A day earlier, the White House had released dramatic video showing US commandos rappelling onto the Skipper from a helicopter and sweeping the deck with weapons drawn.
Venezuelan authorities have fiercely condemned the seizure, with Maduro accusing the US of “kidnapping the crew” and “stealing” the ship.
“They have opened a new chapter,” Maduro declared. “A chapter of criminal naval piracy in the Caribbean.”
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello labelled the US “murderers, thieves, and pirates,” claiming the country uses such tactics to instigate wars worldwide.
CBS reported that the Skipper had already been sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2022 for allegedly participating in oil-smuggling operations that generated revenue for Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Quds Force.
The US recently increased its military presence in the Caribbean Sea, positioning thousands of troops and deploying the USS Gerald R. Ford — the world’s largest aircraft carrier — within striking distance of Venezuela.
