Overview
- U.S. forces were ordered to enforce a two-month quarantine on Venezuelan oil, targeting sanctioned tankers entering or leaving the country, according to Reuters reporting cited by SCMP.
- More than a dozen U.S. warships and roughly 15,000 troops are deployed across the Caribbean to support interdictions, SCMP reported.
- U.S. personnel recently boarded the Centuries, a non‑sanctioned ship owned by a Hong Kong–based entity, Bloomberg reported as cited by SCMP.
- Analysts told Raw Story a full-scale invasion is unlikely as the administration relies on intensified sanctions and maritime enforcement to deprive Caracas of resources.
- Legal scholars and humanitarian groups warn that unilateral interdictions raise serious maritime law questions and that broader sanctions risk worsening shortages and mortality, including effects documented in research cited from The Lancet.