Overview
- U.S. deployments to the South Caribbean expanded this week with special operations aircraft, troops and carrier assets, as President Trump touted a “massive armada.”
- The U.S. has seized two tankers carrying Venezuelan crude — the Skipper and the Centuries — is pursuing additional vessels, and Trump said the oil and ships will be kept or sold.
- At an emergency UN Security Council session, U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz vowed to enforce sanctions to the maximum extent, citing the designation of Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization.
- Venezuela’s National Assembly passed a law imposing up to 20-year prison terms for supporting blockades or ‘piracy,’ while officials denounced U.S. actions as extortion and illegal under international law.
- Russia and China condemned Washington’s moves at the UN, shipping data showed slower Venezuelan oil loadings, and reporting tallied more than 100 deaths from U.S. maritime strikes since September.