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The United States' offensive against the Venezuelan oil industry has entered a more aggressive phase, as it plans to seize more vessels as part of a campaign to financially destabilize the government of Nicolás Maduro.
The operation carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the United States Coast Guard, with the support of the Department of Defense, targeted a shipment valued at approximately 80 million dollars, which is roughly 5% of the amount that Venezuela allocates each month for the importation of essential goods.
According to the newspaper The Wall Street Journal, cited by the news portal Infobae, this blow impacts chavismo more profoundly than the attacks on vessels linked to drug trafficking, as it jeopardizes the oil flow upon which the government's survival depends.
The importance of oil is crucial, as crude oil sales have historically accounted for more than 90% of Venezuela's export revenues. Additionally, associates of the president have been accused of appropriating part of the billions of dollars generated annually by this industry, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The White House confirmed that it will retain the crude oil transported by the vessel Skipper, which had previously been sanctioned for carrying Iranian oil, while investigators question the crew under a court order, reported the television station France 24.
The impact is already being felt at Venezuelan ports, where a dozen ships were waiting off the country's main oil terminal, with none daring to dock.
In normal operations, at least 10 vessels should be loading simultaneously.
A port official reported widespread absenteeism among workers due to fear of future U.S. actions.
Washington's offensive includes an increased military deployment in the Caribbean, attacks on vessels accused of drug trafficking, and explicit threats of bombing.
Trump, in his usual style, stated that "Maduro's days are numbered" and did not rule out a ground invasion if Maduro's regime continues its defiance.
The White House insists that the seizure aims to curb the trafficking of sanctioned oil that finances what it considers "narcoterrorism by illegitimate regimes."
Pressure is not only directed at Venezuela. The American news outlet Axios revealed that the seized oil tanker was heading to Cuba as part of an illegal network supplying the island with Venezuelan and Iranian crude oil.
Sources cited by the media described a scheme through which Havana resells oil on the international black market, involving relatives of Raúl Castro.
For Washington, this represents a "double blow" to Maduro's finances and to the interests of the Cuban apparatus that supports him.
The Treasury Department added sanctions against more than a dozen operators and companies, including relatives of Cilia Flores, Maduro's wife.
The Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, accused the Venezuelan government of "flooding the United States with drugs," while Caracas described the operation as an "act of international piracy" and denounced the "kidnapping" of the crew.
The UN expressed concern over the escalation and urged restraint to avoid regional destabilization.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan economist Francisco Rodríguez from the University of Denver warned The Wall Street Journal that the seizure of one ship per month would be enough to push Venezuela back into recession, in a context where the country is already forced to sell oil at heavy discounts and deplete its international reserves to curb inflation.
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