The United States on Thursday escalated its campaign of pressure against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, announcing sanctions on six additional oil tankers and their associated shipping companies.
They were accused of transporting Venezuelan crude and supporting the “corrupt narco-terrorist regime” in Caracas.
The move by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is the latest in a series of actions aimed at disrupting the revenue streams of the Maduro government.
This is coming just a day after the U.S. announced the seizure of a separate, sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
According to the Treasury Department, six of the newly designated vessels are all large crude oil supertankers that recently loaded oil in Venezuela.
The sanctions target the ships and six shipping companies registered to various international jurisdictions, including the Marshall Islands, the United Kingdom, and the British Virgin Islands.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a statement, accused Maduro and his associates of fueling crime and instability.
“Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people,” Bessent said.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury is holding the regime and its circle of cronies and companies accountable for its continued crimes.”
The sanctions block any assets the ships and companies have within U.S. jurisdiction and generally prohibit U.S. citizens and businesses from engaging in transactions with them.
Banks and financial institutions that violate this restriction risk exposure to secondary sanctions.
This action came the same day the U.S. also announced new sanctions on three nephews of Cilia Flores, Maduro’s wife, as well as a Panamanian businessman accused of facilitating oil shipments and having close dealings with the Maduro family.
Speaking after the tanker seizure, Maduro slammed the U.S., calling the operation an act of “naval piracy” and accusing Washington of seeking to destabilize the country.
The U.S. asserts that the targeted vessels are employing “deceptive and unsafe shipping practices” to circumvent existing sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA, and its leaders.
