White House Orders Two-Month Oil Quarantine of Venezuela as Third Tanker Hunt Drags On

Overview

• U.S. officials told Reuters the military has been directed to focus almost exclusively for at least two months on enforcing sanctions that cut off Venezuela’s oil revenue.
• Two tankers have been seized in December, and the Coast Guard is tracking the Bella 1 under a U.S. court order as it moves into the Atlantic after refusing boarding near Barbados.
• The Coast Guard is awaiting specialized Maritime Security Response Teams and additional assets before any forcible boarding, underscoring limited law-enforcement capacity for these operations.
• Venezuela denounced the campaign at the Security Council as extortion and aggression; Brazil’s ambassador said the blockade violates the UN Charter, and Russia and China also condemned the measures.
• Caracas passed a law imposing up to 20 years in prison for aiding foreign seizures, and Washington recently raised its reward for information leading to Nicolás Maduro’s arrest to $50 million.