China condemns US seizure of Venezuela-linked tankers
Chinese officials on Dec. 22 condemned the US seizure of oil tankers headed from Venezuelan ports, calling the acts a "serious violation of international law."
"Venezuela has the right to independently develop mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press conference. Jian stated that China opposes unilateral enforcement of sanctions that lack "basis in international law" and infringe on the sovereignty of other nations.
US troops boarded and seized the Panama-flagged tanker Centuries on Dec. 20. According to the White House, while the ship was not on the US Treasury's sanctioned vessel list, it carried state-owned oil as part of Venezuela's "shadow fleet." Reports have indicated that the Centuries was headed for China.
US President Donald Trump on TruthSocial wrote that the "Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION" (upper case in original), and has claimed it uses oil resources to fund human trafficking, drug smuggling, murder, and kidnapping. Trump has relied on this rationale to establish a "total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers" to and from Venezuela. In fact, it is the so-called Cartel of the Suns, supposedly linked to the Venezuelan government, that has been designated a "foreign terrorist organization" (FTO) by the US State Department.
18 U.S. Code § 981 gives the federal government the authority to seize assets "of any individual, entity, or organization engaged in planning or perpetrating" a crime of terrorism.
This was the second Venezuela-linked oil tanker the US has recently seized. On Dec. 10, the US seized the M/T Skipper, which the Justice Department claimed was "being used in an oil shipping network supporting Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force," two US-designated FTOs.
The US targeted another Panama-flagged Venezuela-linked tanker for pursuit in Caribbean waters Monday after it failed to stop following US Coast Guard attempts to board it. That tanker, the Bella 1, has also been named by the Treasury Department as "carrying sanctioned cargo" on behalf of designated FTOs. It reportedly escaped pursuit into the Atlantic Ocean.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has condemned the seizures, calling the US actions "piracy," and claiming that Trump's security justifications are a pretense to capture Venezuelan oil.
Tensions continue to rise between the US and Venezuela. The US has struck over 20 boats allegedly smuggling drugs from Venezuela (or Colombia) in recent months, killing over 80 people.
From JURIST, Dec. 23. Used with permission. Internal links added.
UN experts denounce US ship seizures off Venezuela
UN experts on Dec. 24 declared that the partial US maritime blockade on Venezuela is violating fundamental rules of international law. The US has been attempting to seize sanctioned vessels headed to or from the South American country since mid-December.
On Dec. 10, the US seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela after President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy to stop sanctioned oil tankers from entering and leaving the country. In a Truth Social post on December 16, President Trump announced vessels approaching Venezuela will be targeted with “total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into, and out of, Venezuela."
The UN experts said, "There is no right to enforce unilateral sanctions through an armed blockade." A blockade is a prohibited use of military force against another country under Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. "It is such a serious use of force that it is also expressly recognised as illegal armed aggression under the General Assembly’s 1974 Definition of Aggression," the experts said.
The experts continued: "The illegal use of force, and threats to use further force at sea and on land, gravely endanger the human right to life and other rights in Venezuela and the region."
The issuance of these sanctions follows the US designation of the Venezuelan president and government figures as part of an alleged "foreign terrorist organization" known as Cartel de los Soles—despite the apparent lack of evidence for the existence of such a cartel. The blockade also follows the US Navy's strikes on vessels suspected of trafficking drugs into the US, resulting in the deaths of 104 individuals. The UN has counted 28 such attacks on civilian vessels since early September.
The experts argued, "These killings amount to violations of the right to life. They must be investigated and those responsible held accountable. Meanwhile, the US Congress should intervene to prevent further attacks and lift the blockade."
Urging States to prevent the blockades through methods such as diplomatic protest, General Assembly resolutions, and peaceful counter-measures, UN experts also stated, "Collective action by States is essential to uphold international law. Respect for the rule of law, sovereignty, non-use of force, non-intervention and the peaceful settlement of disputes are essential to preserving peace and stability worldwide." (Jurist)
Trump's strikes on 'drug boats': marijuana not fentanyl
US air-strikes on so-called "drug boats" have now destroyed 30 vessels and killed more than 100 people in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. And on Dec. 26, President Donald Trump boasted in a radio interview that the United States had knocked out "a big facility"—implying that it was a drug-trafficking hub on the Venezuelan mainland, although he provided no details and neither the White House, Pentagon nor US intelligence agencies would comment.
In addition to the dubious legality of the strikes under the laws of war, it has been pointed out that fentanyl—by far the most deadly drug of abuse in the US—is not coming in from South America. It's also been pointed out that most of the cocaine is exported from Colombia and Ecuador—not Venezuela, the country that is the focus of Trump's campaign. Now evidence emerges that at least some of the targeted vessels were carrying the comparatively harmless cannabis. (See full story at Global Ganja Report)
CIA drone strike on Venezuela: report
CNN is citing exclusive sources to the effect that the CIA and Pentagon Special Operations Forces jointly carried out a drone strike last week on a port facility in Venezuela that was supposedly being used by the Tren de Aragua narco gang. (NYT, NewsHour)
US announces more sanctions on Venezuela-linked oil companies
The US on Dec. 31 announced sanctions against four companies operating in Venezuela’s oil sector, declaring four associated oil tankers as blocked property.
In the statement released by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the US government alleges that some of these vessels are part of the "shadow fleet”"serving Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government. The sanctions indicate an escalation in the ongoing targeting of Maduro by the Trump administration, which has repeatedly leveled accusations of narco-trafficking and sanctions evasion against the South American president.
"These vessels, some of which are part of the shadow fleet serving Venezuela, continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro's illegitimate narco-terrorist regime," the statement read.
"President Trump has been clear: We will not allow the illegitimate Maduro regime to profit from exporting oil while it floods the United States with deadly drugs," Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent continued. "The Treasury Department will continue to implement President Trump’s campaign of pressure on Maduro’s regime."
The new sanctions by OFAC targeted vessels named as Nord Star, Lunar Tide, Rosalind and Della, as well as their registered ownership companies, four firms operating in Venezuela’s oil sector, for their alleged involvement in drug-smuggling. As a result of these sanctions, any US-linked property of the designated parties will be blocked, and US entities/individuals will be generally prohibited from dealing with them without prior OFAC authorization.
Of special note in these sanctions is the "spillover" rule: if a company is 50% owned (directly or indirectly) by one or more blocked persons or entities, that company will be treated as blocked, even if it is not directly named. Violations of these terms can trigger civil or criminal penalties, with the Treasury Department warning that "those involved in the Venezuelan oil trade continue to face significant sanctions risk" and enforcement actions.
This development comes two weeks after US President Donald Trump's announcement of a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela, after the US accused President Maduro and members of his cabinet of forming part of an alleged “foreign terrorist organization” known as Cartel de los Soles. Despite a glaring lack of evidence proving the existence of this cartel, hostilities persisted; the US Navy conducted numerous strikes on vessels suspected of trafficking drugs into the US, resulting in the deaths of over 100 individuals. Since early September, the UN has recorded at least 30 attacks on civilian vessels. Last month, the US seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela and subsequently deployed a large naval force in the Caribbean near Venezuela.
Members of the international community, including UN institutions, have denounced the partial US blockade of Venezuela as "violating fundamental rules of international law."
"There is no right to enforce unilateral sanctions through an armed blockade," UN experts have stated, citing Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. "The illegal use of force, and threats to use further force at sea and on land, gravely endanger the human right to life and other rights in Venezuela and the region." The Trump administration, however, maintains that its blockade is "narrowly tailored" and does not target civilians, and therefore does not amount to an illegal act of war.
Venezuela has unequivocally rejected the sanctions, calling them "illegal" and asserting that the US is using economic pressure to damage its oil industry and strong-arm political change. (Jurist)