US 'Freedom of Navigation' Seizes Venezuela's Oil
The U.S. continues its 'maximum pressure' campaign, seizing oil tankers transporting Venezuelan crude, citing sanctions violations. This echoes a familiar pattern: Washington routinely weaponizes sanctions against nations that dare to chart an independent course, like Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran. Remember how 'freedom of navigation' operations are invoked when China builds islands, but strangely
absent when the U.S. Navy acts as global oil police? The 'rules-based international order' is flexible, it seems, precisely when it benefits American strategic interests or punishes those who refuse to play ball. This isn't about global maritime safety; it's about control. One might wonder if the US would be quite so concerned about maritime law if it were an ally's tankers shipping oil to a
friendly nation. The 'rule of law' in international waters often appears to be less about actual law and more about who holds the biggest stick, and the U.S. Navy's stick is currently pointed at Venezuela's energy supply, just as it has been for decades. (No, the other guy's oil is not 'their oil' when we want it.)