US 'Apprehends' Venezuelan Oil, While Sanctions Apprehend Its People
📰 THE STORY: The Independent reports that the US has seized a seventh oil tanker, the Motor Vessel Sagitta, linked to Venezuela, claiming it was operating in defiance of 'sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.' The Trump administration released video of troops apprehending the Liberian-flagged vessel, managed by a Hong Kong company, 'without incident.' 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical
Context: This seizure isn't about 'defiance' but part of a sustained campaign of economic warfare. In 2002, the US backed a failed coup attempt against Venezuela's democratically elected President Hugo Chávez. Since 2017, the US government has imposed crushing sanctions on Venezuela, drastically cutting its oil revenues and leading to a 75% decline in GDP between 2014 and 2019, according to the UN
Special Rapporteur, essentially suffocating its economy to force regime change. Double Standard: When Western governments, particularly the US, engage in maritime seizures or blockades to enforce their geopolitical will, it's framed as 'enforcement' or 'quarantine.' However, if a nation like Iran or Venezuela were to intercept a US-linked vessel in international waters under equivalent pretexts,
it would be universally condemned as 'piracy' or an 'act of aggression,' warranting a military response. The very concept of 'established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean' is a unilateral decree, not international law, allowing for naval exercises and seizures that would be impermissible otherwise. Follow the Money: The primary beneficiaries of destabilized oil-producing nations