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SEETHING dictator Nicolas Maduro has vowed to “kick in the teeth” of America after it sensationally seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s shores.
He fumed the US had committed an act of “piracy” – while a nonchalant Donald Trump suggested the States would “keep the oil.”
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In a sword-wielding speech after the seizure, Maduro called for Venezuelans to “give the US a real beating”.
He thundered: “In times like these we must be like warriors, with both eyes peeled, working, producing, building, keeping the country functioning.
“And prepared to break the teeth of the North American empire, if necessary,
When asked why he ordered the operation, Trump responded coolly: “It was seized for a very good reason.”
And when a reporter enquired about the fate of the oil onboard, he shrugged: “We keep it, I guess.”
Maduro was reeling on Wednesday evening as US pressure hit unprecedented levels with the maritime sting on the tanker – reportedly holding 1.1million barrels of oil.
This was the first time America had interrupted Venezuela’s oil flow, and the first target not directly related to the drugs trade.
Stunning footage shared by US Attorney General Pam Bondi showed commandos rappelling down from a chopper and storming the tanker.
Elite troops from the Maritime Security Response Teams – tactical units within the US Coast Guard – disperse in formation with guns aloft, darting up staircases and sweeping through cabins.
These units specialise in maritime counterterrorism and counternarcotics.
The White House said the vessel was transporting sanctioned oil, and that the teams were executing a seizure warrant.
UK maritime risk management group Vanguard identified the tanker as Skipper, which the US sanctioned for alleged involvement Iran’s oil trade under another name.
It is part of the global shadow fleet – older, unregulated ships that transport sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela to countries in Asia.
It set off from Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between December 4 and 5 after loading around 1.1 million barrels of oil – worth around $66million – according to satellite info analysed by TankerTrackers.com and data from Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.
Guyana’s maritime authority said Skipper was falsely flying Guyana’s flag – something it vowed to punish.
As Venezuela’s only meaningful export, oil is absolutely crucial to propping up Maduro – and now the flow of it is threatened.
Other shipping agencies will likely be wary of transporting oil from the country for fear of a similar seizure.
Most oil from Venezuela ends up in China after passing through middlemen nations and being sold at a cut price.
Just yesterday, oil buyers in Asia demanded deeper discounts on Venezuelan crude oil due to a flood of sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran on offer.
Longer term, it’s possible this seizure proves to be the first move in a naval blockade of Venezuela – but Trump is for now keeping his cards close to his chest.
Venezuelan officials accused the US of “blatant theft,” describing the seizure as “an act of international piracy”.
Announcing the successful operation on Wednesday, Trump said: “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually.”
He fired an ominous warning to Maduro – under the cosh more now than ever before – that “other things are happening”, though he did not elaborate.
Up to this point, operations had been limited to remote strikes on small boats that America identified as “narco-terrorists”.
As of December 4, at least 87 people had been killed in 22 strikes on 23 vessels.
America has also been amassing a vast naval force in the Caribbean – its largest presence in the region for decades.
At the end of last month, Trump vowed the US would soon launch land operations in Venezuela after saying the drug cartels are on a par with terrorist groups Al Qaeda and Hamas.
However, he has maintained that his only goal is to wipe out the drugs trade flooding narcotics into the US – justifying each escalation with this cause.
Many suspect he in fact wants to topple Maduro or gain access to Venezuela’s vast oil wells – and this latest operation will spur on those suspicions.
For his part, Maduro has been hopping mad with fear – alternating between defiant avowals to defend his dictatorship and appeals for peace through literally singing and dancing.
He is reportedly living like a hunted man – sleeping in a different bed every night and swapping phones constantly to evade would-be assassins.
On Wednesday, the Nobel Peace Committee urged him to step down at the ceremony for his opponent forced into hiding, Maria Corina Machado, who won the 2025 Peace Prize.
Maduro blindly insists everything is under control – but he cannot withstand forever the pressure that is growing on him.
Trump has for weeks been warning that his “days are numbered”.
Trump's war on drugs
By Harvey Geh, Foreign News Reporter
DONALD Trump has launched his full-scale war on drugs – favouring missiles over law enforcement.
The first day of Trump’s second term kicked off with the designation of narcotraffickers as terrorists – giving him the right to kill them before they can reach American shores.
This is the argument he has used in the face of law experts warning that his decision to strike a suspected drug-smuggling boat on Tuesday was illegal.
Washington-watchers claim that the gangsters should have been arrested – but the White House says that law enforcement is ineffective.
Trump vowed after the blitz: “There’s more where that came from.”
The US President has long spoken of his desire to enact force to take on drug cartels, which he accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of actively backing.
Maduro has denied the allegations, and the last few months have seen teetering escalations deteriorate into a tense standoff.
The US has positioned naval destroyers and soldiers around Maduro’s waters, while the Venezuelan dictator has ordered mass mobilisation of troops
English (US) · 