Trump expands Venezuela sanctions as Maduro decries new ‘era of piracy’

Par :Andrew Roth in Washington and Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

12 décembre 2025 à 02:43

Six more oil supertankers added to sanctions list, as well as members of Maduro’s extended family, amid rising tensions following tanker seizure

Donald Trump has exerted more pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, expanding sanctions and issuing fresh threats to strike land targets in Venezuela, as the South American dictator accused the US president of ushering in a new “era of criminal naval piracy” in the Caribbean.

Late on Thursday, the US imposed curbs on three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, as well as six crude oil supertankers and the shipping companies linked to them. The treasury department alleged the vessels “engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime”.

Venezuelan Nobel laureate backs US seizure of oil tanker

The Guardian

Par :Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro · Miranda Bryant · and Camille Rodríguez Montilla in Oslo

11 décembre 2025 à 14:03

María Corina Machado says action was ‘very necessary step’ to confront Nicolás Maduro’s ‘criminal’ regime

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Venezuela’s best-known opposition leader, the Nobel peace prize winner María Corina Machado, has said she supports the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, calling it a “very necessary step” to confront Nicolás Maduro’s “criminal” regime.

Speaking in Oslo on Thursday, a day after she was honoured for her “tireless” struggle for democratic change, Machado praised the US navy and coastguard helicopter raid on the vessel.

Venezuela decries ‘act of piracy’ after US forces seize oil tanker off country’s coast

The Guardian

Par :Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro and Andrew Roth in Washington

11 décembre 2025 à 03:50

Footage uploaded to X by US attorney general shows its forces landing on the tanker in major escalation of Trump’s pressure campaign

US politics live: latest news updates

US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a major escalation of Donald Trump’s four-month pressure campaign against the South American country’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro, whose government called the seizure “an act of international piracy”.

Trump confirmed the operation on Wednesday, saying: “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela – a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized actually.”

Venezuelan Nobel peace prize winner misses ceremony but vows to continue struggle

The Guardian

Par :Camille Rodríguez Montilla in Oslo and Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

10 décembre 2025 à 19:11

Daughter delivers speech, with Nobel Institute saying María Corina Machado still expected in Oslo after journey of ‘extreme danger’

Venezuela’s most prominent opposition leader, María Corina Machado, has vowed to continue her struggle to free the country from years of “obscene corruption”, “brutal dictatorship” and “despair” as she was awarded the Nobel peace prize at a ceremony in Norway’s capital, Oslo.

The 58-year-old conservative has lived in hiding in Venezuela since its authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, was accused of stealing the 2024 presidential election from her political movement. Despite fevered speculation that she would make a dramatic appearance at Wednesday’s event, having somehow slipped out of Venezuela, Machado was not present, although she was expected to arrive in Oslo in the coming hours.

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