WASHINGTON — The United States government has intensified its pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, announcing new sanctions on four shipping firms and designating four oil tankers as blocked property.
In a significant escalation of tactics, the CIA also conducted a drone strike last week targeting a Venezuelan docking area linked to drug cartels, marking the first known direct U.S. operation on Venezuelan soil. These measures aim to disrupt the financial networks supporting what the Trump Administration characterizes as an “illegitimate regime”.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) specifically targeted the vessels Nord Star, Lunar Tide, Rosalind, and Della, along with their respective ownership companies. These tankers are allegedly part of a “shadow fleet” used by the Maduro government to bypass international restrictions. By designating these assets, the U.S. denies the involved entities access to any property or financial assets held within its jurisdiction.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized that these actions are designed to prevent the regime from profiting from oil exports while allegedly facilitating the trafficking of illicit drugs into the U.S.. Furthermore, President Donald Trump has announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned tankers and continues to demand the return of U.S. oil company assets seized by Venezuela in previous years.
Analysis: The Economic and Geopolitical Implications of the “Shadow Fleet” Crackdown
The recent expansion of U.S. sanctions represents a strategic pivot toward aggressive enforcement and direct intervention. By targeting the “shadow fleet”—a collection of aging tankers that often operate without standard insurance or transparent ownership—the U.S. is attempting to sever the Maduro regime’s primary economic lifeline.
Historically, regimes under heavy sanctions, such as those in Iran or North Korea, have utilized “ghost” or “shadow” fleets to transport commodities. These vessels often engage in “dark” activities, such as disabling transponders or conducting ship-to-ship transfers in international waters to obscure the origin of the cargo. By blacklisting specific ships like the Nord Star and Lunar Tide, the U.S. Treasury Department effectively renders these assets toxic to global banks and maritime insurers, who fear “secondary sanctions” or enforcement actions for facilitating prohibited trade.
The introduction of direct military or paramilitary action, specifically the CIA drone strike on Venezuelan soil, signals a departure from purely economic warfare. This maneuver aligns with the administration’s rhetoric linking oil profits to transnational organized crime and drug trafficking. While the U.S. has long utilized sanctions to achieve foreign policy goals, the combination of a maritime blockade and kinetic strikes suggests a move toward a “maximum pressure” strategy intended to force a total collapse of the regime’s logistics or compel significant political concessions.
