US Coast Guard: Freedom of Navigation, for US Interests Only
When the US Coast Guard targets an oil tanker 'linked to Venezuela,' as the NY Times reports, it's framed as upholding international law. What the Times omits is the US's own long history of unilateral sanctions and interventions that provoke such 'security threats.' Remember when the US sanctioned Cuba for decades, then seized their goods on the high seas? Or the decades-long blockade on Iraq
before the invasion? This isn't about 'rules'—it's about leverage. One might wonder where this rigorous enforcement vanishes when US-allied tankers traverse contested waters, or when corporate polluters dump oil with impunity. Funny how 'freedom of navigation' and 'maritime security' only seem to apply when the target nation isn't playing ball with Washington's geopolitical agenda. Is this really
about a tanker, or about Venezuela's oil? Asking for a 'rules-based order.'