In a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Caribbean, U.S. forces on December 20, 2025, stopped an oil tanker named Centuries off the coast of Venezuela, marking the second such operation in less than two weeks. The move, confirmed by several U.S. officials and widely reported by outlets including the Associated Press and NPR, comes as President Donald Trump intensifies his pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The early-morning operation was not a surprise to those following recent White House rhetoric. Just days before, President Trump had announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela—a country already battered by years of economic crisis and international isolation. The December 10 seizure of the tanker Skipper, described as part of a shadow fleet moving sanctioned oil, set the stage for this latest action. But this time, the circumstances weren’t quite as clear-cut.
The Centuries, a crude oil tanker flying under the Panamanian flag, had last docked in Venezuela before it was stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard, with support from the Defense Department. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the operation, even posting a video online showing U.S. personnel landing on the vessel via helicopter. According to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity, the boarding was “consented”—the tanker stopped voluntarily and allowed U.S. forces aboard.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly claimed in a social media post that the Centuries was “a falsely flagged vessel operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil,” and that the oil it carried was sanctioned. However, Dr. Salvatore Mercogliano, a maritime historian at Campbell University, told the Associated Press that shipping databases indicated the Centuries appeared to be a properly registered vessel. Still, he added, “it’s almost certain that the Centuries took on a load of sanctioned oil.” For Mercogliano, the seizure “is a big escalation. This one is meant to scare other tankers away.”
The government of Venezuela was quick to denounce the U.S. action. In a strongly worded statement, officials called the boarding “criminal” and vowed to pursue legal recourse, including complaints to the United Nations Security Council. The statement read: “The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically denounces and rejects the theft and hijacking of another private vessel transporting Venezuelan oil, as well as the enforced disappearance of its crew, perpetrated by United States military personnel in international waters.”
President Trump has made no secret of his desire to see President Maduro ousted. Following the first tanker seizure, Trump promised a blockade of Venezuela, warning that Maduro’s days in power were numbered. This week, he doubled down, demanding that Venezuela return assets seized from U.S. oil companies years ago—assets that became a point of contention after Venezuela nationalized its petroleum sector in the 1970s and again under Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez. In 2014, an international arbitration panel ordered Venezuela’s socialist government to pay $1.6 billion to ExxonMobil after finding the compensation offered to U.S. firms was insufficient.
“We’re not going to be letting anybody going through who shouldn’t be going through,” Trump told reporters earlier this week, as cited by NPR. “You remember they took all of our energy rights. They took all of our oil not that long ago. And we want it back. They took it—they illegally took it.”
The blockade and tanker seizures are only one aspect of a broader U.S. campaign in the region. Since early September, the Defense Department has carried out 28 strikes against vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, targeting ships the administration alleges are smuggling fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the United States and beyond. At least 104 people have been killed in these operations. The Coast Guard, sometimes with support from the Navy, had previously focused on intercepting suspected drug smuggling boats, searching for illicit cargo, and arresting those aboard for prosecution. Now, the approach is more aggressive and, according to critics, far less transparent.
The administration insists these strikes are justified, asserting that the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and that such measures are necessary to halt the flow of narcotics. President Maduro, who faces federal charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S., has claimed that the real purpose of these military operations is to force him from power. In recent months, the U.S. has deployed a fleet of warships to the region—the largest buildup in generations. Trump has repeatedly stated that land attacks are coming soon, raising the stakes even further.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, in an interview with Vanity Fair, summed up the administration’s hardline stance: “Trump wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.”
The U.S. campaign has not gone without scrutiny. Lawmakers and human rights activists have raised concerns about the lack of evidence tying the targeted vessels to drug smuggling, and have questioned whether the fatal strikes amount to extrajudicial killings. The administration’s refusal to release full video footage of the strikes has only fueled the debate. Meanwhile, some sanctioned tankers have already begun diverting away from Venezuela, suggesting that the U.S. pressure is having a real, if controversial, impact on maritime traffic in the region.
The broader context of these moves is rooted in decades of fraught relations between Washington and Caracas. U.S. oil companies once dominated Venezuela’s petroleum industry, but waves of nationalization have repeatedly soured relations. The dispute over compensation for seized assets remains unresolved, and the recent blockade is, in part, an attempt to force the issue back onto the international agenda.
For Venezuela, the stakes could hardly be higher. The government is already reeling from economic collapse, hyperinflation, and mass emigration. Now, with the U.S. military flexing its muscle just off its shores, the Maduro administration faces mounting pressure both at home and abroad. The legal battle over the seized tanker Centuries and its crew is likely to drag on, potentially setting the stage for further confrontations in the weeks to come.
As the year draws to a close, the tense standoff between the United States and Venezuela shows no sign of abating. With both sides digging in and the threat of further escalation looming, the fate of Venezuela’s oil—and its embattled leader—hangs in the balance.
