In a dramatic escalation of already tense relations, the United States seized a Venezuelan oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on December 10, 2025—a move that has sent shockwaves through international diplomatic circles and reignited fierce debate over U.S. policy in Latin America. President Donald Trump, addressing the nation on International Human Rights Day, announced, "We just seized a tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a big tanker, a very big tanker; in fact, the biggest one ever seized." Trump, when pressed about the fate of the confiscated oil, responded bluntly: "Well, I guess we’ll keep the oil."
The vessel in question, the Skipper, was reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from both Venezuela and Iran. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi explained the rationale behind the operation, stating, "For several years, the tanker has been sanctioned by the United States for its involvement in an illicit oil transportation network that supports foreign terrorist organizations." According to Bondi, the seizure was the result of a coordinated effort involving the FBI, the Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Investigations Service.
This high-profile action is the latest—and perhaps boldest—in a series of U.S. measures targeting the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The United States has, since 2019, imposed more than 1,000 economic and trade sanctions on Venezuelan institutions, companies, and individuals, with a particular focus on crippling the country’s vital oil sector. The result has been a deepening economic crisis within Venezuela, the effects of which have rippled across the region.
But this time, the U.S. went further than sanctions. Video footage, widely circulated by international media, shows U.S. military personnel descending from helicopters and forcibly taking control of the Skipper. This marks the first instance of the United States using military force to seize Venezuelan state property, a move that many observers see as a dangerous new precedent in the ongoing conflict between the two nations.
The Venezuelan government wasted no time in condemning the operation. Officials in Caracas described the seizure as "blatant theft and an act of international piracy." They argued that the U.S. justification—combating drug trafficking and illicit networks—was merely a smokescreen for a more self-serving agenda. "The real reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been exposed. It is not migration, drug trafficking, democracy, or human rights. It has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people," a statement from Caracas declared, as reported by several outlets. The government vowed to "appeal to all existing international bodies to denounce this serious international crime, and will defend its sovereignty, natural resources, and national dignity with absolute determination."
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello was even more direct, telling reporters, "They are thieves, pirates, murderers. What they want is to steal our oil." The fate of the Skipper’s crew remains uncertain, adding a layer of human drama to an already charged situation.
The repercussions of the seizure extend beyond Venezuela’s borders. The ship was reportedly headed to Cuba, a country facing its own dire energy shortages due to a longstanding U.S. blockade. Venezuela has been one of the few nations willing to supply Cuba with crude oil, defying U.S. sanctions. Cuba’s Foreign Ministry released a statement on December 12, warning that the incident "has a negative impact on Cuba and intensifies the United States’ policy of maximum pressure and economic strangulation, with a direct impact on the national energy system and, consequently, on the daily lives of our people." The ministry characterized the seizure as yet another chapter in the U.S. campaign to prevent Venezuela from "exercising its legitimate right to freely use and trade its natural resources"—a campaign that, in Cuba’s view, now includes the "use of military force to attempt to impose its dominance over Our America."
This latest action fits into a much broader U.S. strategy. In February 2025, the U.S. government seized a Dassault Falcon 200 aircraft belonging to the Maduro administration in the Dominican Republic—the second such aircraft confiscated in recent years. The U.S. has also blocked the operations of nearly 15 aircraft owned by Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Venezuela’s state oil company, and frozen its assets. Just two weeks before the Skipper incident, the sale of PDVSA’s U.S. subsidiary, CITGO, was finalized to a U.S. investment fund, following a six-year legal battle that began with the Guaidó-era asset seizures. Since 2019, an estimated eight billion U.S. dollars of Venezuela’s foreign assets have been seized by international banks, justified by the non-recognition of the Maduro government.
The roots of this aggressive policy can be traced back to the Trump administration’s first term. According to a memoir by former national security adviser John R. Bolton, President Trump was awakened by a pre-dawn call about a possible coup in Venezuela—a coup that ultimately failed, in part due to Cuban support for Maduro. Nearly seven years later, Maduro remains in power, and U.S. policy has only grown more forceful.
Senator Marco Rubio, now serving as Secretary of State and interim national security adviser, has emerged as a key architect of the current pressure campaign. According to The New York Times, Rubio views the weakening of Venezuela not just as an end in itself, but as a means to deliver a "critical blow to Cuba." Juan S. Gonzalez, who served as President Biden’s top White House aide for Western Hemisphere affairs, explained, "Their theory of change involves cutting off all support to Cuba. Under this approach, once Venezuela goes, Cuba will follow." Rubio himself told NPR in early 2019, "Anything that’s bad for a communist dictatorship is something I support," making clear that a weakened Cuba would be a welcome byproduct of U.S. efforts in Venezuela.
Experts warn that this new phase—marked by military seizures—could have far-reaching consequences. Companies that transport Venezuelan crude, much of which is destined for China, may now think twice before accepting such cargo, fearing similar actions by U.S. forces. The immediate aftermath of the Skipper’s seizure saw a slight uptick in oil prices, a signal of market jitters over the possibility of further disruptions.
Activist groups like CODEPINK have condemned the maritime operation as "part of a much wider campaign of economic coercion and outright theft that Venezuela has been subjected to for years." They argue that the strategy is clear: "starve the country economically, attack it militarily when politically convenient, and bully it into submission."
With tensions running high and both sides vowing to stand their ground, the seizure of the Skipper may prove to be a defining moment in the long, fraught relationship between Washington and Caracas—and, by extension, Havana. As the dust settles, the world watches closely, waiting to see what the next move will be in this high-stakes geopolitical chess game.
