Did you read that the U. S. has now seized an oil tanker belonging to Venezuela?

[Anonymous]

What are your thoughts about this?

"The U. S. seized a Venezuelan oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, Trump said Wednesday, touting the “very large” vessel’s capture as part of a broader pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. U. S. officials said the tanker—accused of helping move oil for Hezbollah and Iran’s IRGC-QF—was headed to Cuba, and was in international waters at the time of its seizure. Venezuela denounced the move as “international piracy” in a statement. “In these circumstances, the true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed,” the Venezuelan government’s statement said. “It is not migration. It is not drug trafficking. It is not democracy. It is not human rights. It has always been about our natural wealth, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people.”

[OneViewpoint]

Well the Venezuelans are seeing the truth of it. US Oligarchs want control of the Venezuelan oil reserves, the largest oil reserves of any country on the planet. So the USA needs Venezuela to be a scary boogeyman. Let the propaganda begin so we can get on with the military invasion and the plundering.

[Spencer10]

I am not certain you can seize a vessel on the high seas that is not in your territorial water like this. US laws and sanctions only apply in their own waters. Not that international law seems to matter to the USA lately.

[Asker]

The way the U. S. government is now: no laws matter to them.

[Spencer10]

I fear the USA has become an international bully... not much better than Russia. There was a time when the USA was considered one of the "Good guys"

[Asker]

Yeah, the thing is it hasn't just become an international bully, it's pretty much always been one. This is not something new. It's just more blatant than usual.

[Spencer10]

See I would disagree. Maybe 10 to 20 years ago the USA "tried" to be a good guy. Not always successfully but at least as a nation they cared about their global reputation. With the rise of populism in the USA they no longer care about how the world views them. Its a sad state of affairs. America first is America alone.

[Asker]

The U. S. has never tried to be a good guy. They have always interfered in the internal affairs of other countries on an ongoing basis. And they have been doing that since the 1800s.

[Anonymous]

The United States thinking they have the right to take anything they want and interfere in anything that’s non of their business is nothing new.

[Anonymous]

I agree. The USA should stop worrying about embargoes, ending wars and dealing with nukes. Let Europe deal with it.

[strateguy632]

I am grateful you mentioned both sides. Venezuelan accused the American "pirates stealing oil". But this incident (dec. 2025) isn't some recurring 'grab many tankers'. It was as you said: funding "Hezbollah" a terrorists gang (giant gang) that wanted fuel for its rockets.

[Asker]

Again, no evidence whatsoever. It supports what you just said just your speculation which is essentially worthless. You must think that the world runs on gossip and rumors and to some extent you are not wrong.

[WindAtMyBack]

There are sanctions against Venezuela and some of their people. The US is not the only country with sanctions against them. Canada, the EU and some others have sanctions against them. Those sanctions are being enforced. If they aren't enforced, why even bother to sanction?

Just for the record, both Biden and Obama also sanctioned them.

[Asker]

Biden and Obama didn't seize their ships when they were sailing an international waters. Trump does.

[WindAtMyBack]

In other words, Obama and Biden didn't enforce the sanctions imposed by the US and many other countries. That means they are not doing their jobs. What good are sanctions if they are not enforced?

Trump is sending a message than sanctions are sanctions, which is how it should be.

As usual, the US is doing what a lot of other countries want, either openly or behind the scenes, but the US ends up doing all the dirty work, while other countries get the benefit.

[Asker]

Who or what the hell authorized the U. S. to sanction anyone?

[WindAtMyBack]

Sanctions are pretty standard. The US is not the only one to sanction Venezuela. The UK, EU and Canada all have more stringent sanctions against Venezuela than the US. At any given time, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of sanctions around the world.

Overall, the EU and UK have FAR more sanctions against countries than the US. That's how the world works.