Black-market oil buyers will push Venezuela for bigger discounts following US seizure – starving Maduro of much-needed revenue

A video posted on Attorney General Pam Bondi's X account shows the moment an oil tanker was seized by U.S. forces off the coast of Venezuela. U.S. Attorney General's Office/X via AP

The U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast looks designed to further squeeze the economy of President Nicolás Maduro’s country.

The Dec. 10, 2025, operation – in which American forces descended from helicopters onto the vessel – follows months of U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and was immediately condemned by the Venezuelan government as “barefaced robbery and an act of international piracy.”