The United States has entered a new, even more intense phase in its pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The target now is crude oil, Caracas's main source of income. Following the seizure of a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil in waters off the country's coast—a spectacular operation that the U.S. government sought to publicize extensively—it announced sanctions on Thursday against half a dozen other similar vessels, opening the door to further confiscations. In addition, it imposed sanctions on three of the Chavista leader's nephews.

The new phase has heightened existing tensions in the Caribbean, where Washington maintains its largest military presence in decades. President Donald Trump continually threatens to attack targets on South American soil.

In separate statements, the Treasury and State Departments announced sanctions against four individuals—three of them Maduro's nephews—six shipping companies that transport Venezuelan oil, and six of the ships those companies use.

“The United States will continue to deny financial lifelines to the illegitimate regime, which Maduro continues to use to oppress the Venezuelan people. The United States is committed to keeping the American people safe, using every tool at its disposal to eliminate threats from drug trafficking and crime in our hemisphere,” it states.

Earlier, regarding Wednesday's seizure, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt announced:"The Trump Administration is fulfilling presidential sanctions policies, and we will not stand idly by while sanctioned vessels sail the seas with smuggled oil, the sales of which will fuel the narcoterrorism of illegitimate and evil regimes around the world."

The spokeswoman confirmed that a formal seizure process has been initiated and the United States intends to take possession of the confiscated oil once the necessary legal steps have been completed.

The seizure of the Skipper oil tanker on Wednesday was led by Coast Guard forces, with support from the U.S. Navy, in an operation under the authority of the FBI, the federal police. A video of the operation, released by the Department of Homeland Security on social media, shows images that look like they're from an action movie. According to senior officials speaking to U.S. media, military helicopters transported Coast Guard personnel from the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford, the world's largest and most modern carrier and part of the massive U.S. naval deployment in the Caribbean, to the cargo ship.

The video shows Coast Guard personnel (their service is one of the five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, along with the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines) rappelling from helicopters onto the deck of the seized vessel and moving about with their weapons seemingly ready to fire. According to senior officials, the crew of the Skipper offered no resistance.

“Successful operation”

“It was a successful operation directed by the president to ensure that we are confronting a regime that systematically covers up and floods our country with lethal drugs and kills the next generation of Americans,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a House of Representatives hearing on Thursday.

The tanker was sailing under the Guyanese flag, although the Guyanese Maritime Administration has confirmed that it was a false flag and the vessel is not listed in its official records. Announcing the seizure, Trump described the ship as “very big, the biggest ever seized.” When asked about the fate of the crude oil, he added, “Well, I think we’ll keep it.”

The case of this vessel is unique. This ship, then named the Adisa, was linked to the smuggling of Iranian oil within a black market that the FBI and the Department of Justice had been investigating for years. In the social media post accompanying the video, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote: “For years, this tanker was sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit crude oil transportation network that supports foreign terrorist organizations.”

An unusual act

But the involvement of U.S. military personnel in seizing a merchant ship is unusual. And the announcement of the operation comes a month after a U.S. warship intercepted a Russian vessel bound for Venezuela, forcing it to divert to Cuba, as reported two weeks ago by Bloomberg. The Russian merchant ship was carrying naphtha, a chemical that Venezuela needs to import to dilute its heavy crude oil for sale.

Caracas has denounced Wednesday's seizure as"a blatant theft and an act of international piracy." "The true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been exposed. It is not migration. It is not drug trafficking. It is not democracy. It is not human rights. It has always been about our wealth, which belongs exclusively to the Venezuelan people," a government statement reads.

Senior officials who spoke with The New York Times stated that they anticipate further seizures in the coming weeks, as part of the Administration's efforts to weaken the Chavista regime by depriving it of oil revenues. The energy sector is the main engine of the Venezuelan economy, and the country's dependence on it has increased due to the long list of international sanctions it faces.

Last month, the South American country produced nearly 900,000 barrels per day. Its main customer is China, although it must sell to them at discounted prices due to competition from Russia and Iran, two other oil-producing countries heavily sanctioned by the international community.

“The United States is placing Venezuela under a blockade,” said Francesca Emanuele of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) before the seizure took place. In addition to the seizures, she noted, the US has closed Venezuelan airspace, and hardly any international flights are entering the country, with the exception of planes transporting deported migrants, which Venezuela has only recently begun to accept again. “Threats are one thing, but now we are adding the possibility of a blockade, which would worsen the already horrific circumstances of the 78% of Venezuelans living below the poverty line,” she stated, urging European countries to strongly condemn the situation.

The operation to seize the merchant ship intensifies the Trump Administration's efforts to pressure Maduro. Since August, the United States has maintained a naval deployment off the coast of Venezuela, which last month included the Ford and involves fighter jets and nearly 15,000 troops.

The military operation, known as Operation Southern Spear, is aimed at combating drug trafficking, according to the United States. Since September 2nd, it has attacked at least 22 suspected drug-running boats in bombings that have killed 87 people.

But the Venezuelan government, and numerous experts, believe the true objective of the deployment is to try to force Maduro from power. Washington describes the Chavista leader as a drug kingpin, has added the Cartel of the Suns—the alleged criminal group it claims Maduro heads—to its list of foreign organizations, and has doubled the reward offered for his capture to $50 million.

Conversation between Lula and Maduro

Naiara Galarraga Gortázar

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva held a secret phone conversation last week with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to a report published Thursday by the Brazilian newspaper O Globo and confirmed by a source in the Brazilian Presidency, who described the call as “brief.” The content of the call, the exact date it took place, and even whether it was before or after Lula's phone call with Donald Trump on Tuesday, April 2, remain unknown. The newspaper maintains that the exchange between Lula and Maduro was friendly, with the Brazilian president expressing his concern to the Venezuelan leader about the US military deployment and his willingness to help. Brasília froze bilateral relations after the 2024 presidential elections, the results of which it did not recognize, and, in retaliation, vetoed Venezuela's entry into the BRICS group.