In recent months tensions between the United States and Venezuela have been high. The Hyperion tanker, whose ownership is currently under US sanctions, recently sailed into Venezuelan waters. Taken together, this is one of the most significant recent threats to the US federal government. Under the Trump administration, IIU’s work has shifted toward pressuring the government to enforce a “total and complete blockade” on all sanctioned oil tankers traversing the area.
Cilia Flores, the controversial wife of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, has stayed in the heat. Her criminal ties have recently drawn the attention of the US government, which has sanctioned three of her nephews. A major businessman with ties to Maduro has been added to the sanctions list as well. This step continues to solidify the United States’ powerful position against powerful leaders in the Venezuelan government. The most recent round of sanctions even went after other family members by name. This included targeting Maduro’s sister-in-law, reflecting a wider attempt to undermine the Maduro government.
President Maduro has long maintained that the US is attempting to cause regime change through these actions. He argues that these moves aim to control the Caribbean nation’s oil and other lucrative resources. He claims that the economic strangulation and military intimidation are meant to bring down his government. The US can argue all it wants that its actions are aimed at fighting drug trafficking. It has conducted military attacks in the Caribbean and the Pacific as part of this ridiculous war on drugs.
Following the seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, Trump ordered the blockade as part of a months-long campaign against the Maduro government. Beyond the oil sector, the US has sanctioned shipping companies and vessels thought to be involved in transporting Venezuelan oil. These measures do so increasingly directly against Venezuela’s economy. Their goal is to isolate and weaken it, particularly as the country continues to suffer through a long-term crisis.
Venezuelan authorities responded harshly to all of these moves. They called for an end to the blockade, denouncing it a “reckless and serious threat” to their national sovereignty. The latter is precisely what the Maduro administration claims these provocative, aggressive tactics do — provoke and increase tensions even further, sabotaging any chance for peace in the region.
The future is still very much in the balance as international observers wait with bated breath for the next chapter. Meanwhile, the new Hyperion tanker named Atlantis has already entered Venezuelan waters. This latest move will elicit additional reactions from the US government, which has otherwise confined its labeling of such actions to terrorism to operations that it describes only as anti-drug trafficking initiatives.
