The US Coast Guard seized an oil tanker bound for China off the coast of Venezuela on Saturday, in the second tanker seizure in two weeks, as Washington escalates a naval blockade aimed at overthrowing the Venezuelan government.
As with the US killing spree that has killed 104 people in attacks on civilian boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific (the latter near Colombia and Ecuador), the seizure of the oil tankers has no basis in international law. It is an act of piracy on the high seas, and the imposition of a blockade against Venezuela constitutes an act of aggressive war—a crime under international law.
The latest seizure has escalated the US conflict with China, making clear that Washington’s renewed drive to dominate Latin America is not a retreat from the US conflict with Russia and China but part of a plan to create a resource base in the Western Hemisphere for global military conflict.
The vessel seized on Saturday, the Centuries, was carrying Venezuelan crude oil purchased by a Chinese trading company. On December 10, US forces seized the Skipper, a very large crude carrier headed toward Cuba. A third tanker, the Bella 1, refused to submit to boarding on Sunday and fled into the Atlantic Ocean, broadcasting over 75 distress signals as US forces pursued it in international waters.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian denounced the seizures as “a serious violation of international law” at a Monday press briefing in Beijing, adding that China “opposes all unilateral bullying.” China is the largest importer of Venezuelan oil.
The Trump administration has deployed around a dozen warships, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford—the world’s largest warship—and approximately 15,000 troops to the Caribbean area. The region has not seen such a massive US military presence in at least three decades. The economic consequences of the blockade are already severe. Cuba, which depends on Venezuelan oil, is facing the loss of a key economic lifeline and is facing widespread hunger, rolling blackouts, and medical shortages.
Asked Monday whether his goal was to force Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power, Trump replied: “I think it’d be smart for him to do that.” He added: “If he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough.”
The effective blockade of Venezuela is inseparable from the broader US campaign to establish dominance over Latin America as a power base for conflict with China. The National Security Strategy published by the White House last month announces a “Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine,” explicitly aiming to restore “American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” and deny China “the ability to own or control strategically vital assets in our Hemisphere.” The document effectively asserts US ownership over two continents—presented as “our hemisphere”—whose resources Washington intends to seize as a power base for confrontation with Russia and China.
Latin America’s strategic importance to Washington’s preparations for conflict with China centers on the region’s vast reserves of critical minerals. Latin America possesses more than half of the world’s lithium, a material essential for advanced weapons systems, electric vehicles and electronics. China currently controls up to 90 percent of global processing capacity for rare earth elements, giving Beijing significant leverage that US strategists are desperate to break.
The US campaign against Venezuela comes amid US threats to annex the Panama Canal, which the Trump administration has presented as a critical global chokepoint that China must be prevented from accessing.
As part of the drive to seize control of “our” hemisphere, Trump has also demanded that Greenland, a territory of US NATO ally Denmark, become part of the United States. On Sunday, Trump appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as special envoy to Greenland. Over the weekend, Landry said in a post on X that he would seek “to make Greenland a part of the U.S.”
On Monday, Trump announced plans to build a new “Trump Class” of battleships as part of a “Golden Fleet.” Speaking from Mar-a-Lago flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and renderings of the proposed warships, Trump declared that “each one of these will be the largest battleship in the history of our country, the largest battleship in the history of the world, ever built.” He claimed the ships would be “the fastest, the biggest and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” armed with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons and laser systems. The first vessel would be named USS Defiant. Trump said he approved construction of two ships immediately, with plans for 20 to 25 total.
The Democratic Party has offered no opposition to Trump’s campaign of military aggression against Venezuela. Last week, the Democratic congressional leadership joined Republicans in passing the largest military budget in US history. The $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act received the votes of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar.