Overview
- At a U.N. Security Council session, U.S. envoy Mike Waltz backed a “total” blockade on sanctioned tankers and promised maximum sanctions to deprive Maduro of resources Washington links to the Cartel de los Soles.
- Trump said the United States will retain seized ships and their cargo, citing 1.9 million barrels taken on December 10, and warned Maduro of severe, lasting consequences if he resists.
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem declared that “Maduro has to go” as the Coast Guard holds the Centuries, previously seized the Skipper, and continues pursuing the Bella 1.
- U.S. forces reported another deadly strike on a suspected drug boat in the eastern Pacific, with at least 105 deaths in 29 attacks since September drawing scrutiny from U.N. rights officials and some U.S. lawmakers.
- Venezuela filed a complaint calling the seizures piracy, China and Russia condemned the U.S. actions, and a senior U.N. official questioned the legality of the lethal interdictions.