THE GUARDIAN: Six more oil supertankers added to sanctions list, as well as members of Maduro’s extended family, amid rising tensions following tanker seizure
Donald Trump has exerted more pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, expanding sanctions and issuing fresh threats to strike land targets in Venezuela, as the South American dictator accused the US president of ushering in a new “era of criminal naval piracy” in the Caribbean.
Late on Thursday, the US imposed curbs on three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, as well as six crude oil supertankers and the shipping companies linked to them. The treasury department alleged the vessels “engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime”.
The targeted vessels recently loaded crude oil in Venezuela, according to state oil company PDVSA’s internal shipping documents. Four of the tankers are Panama-flagged, with the other two flagged by the Cook Islands and Hong Kong.
In comments on Thursday night, Trump also repeated his threat to soon begin strikes on suspected narcotics shipments making their way via land from Venezuela to the US.
The comments come after the US seized a “dark fleet” tanker named the Skipper off the coast of Venezuela, sparking concerns among some US lawmakers that Trump is “sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela”. » | Andrew Roth in Washington and Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro | Friday, December 12, 2025
