US 'Lawfare': Seizing Venezuela's Oil, One Sanction at a Time
📰 THE STORY: Al Jazeera reports the US has seized a seventh oil tanker allegedly linked to Venezuela, continuing Washington's campaign to exert control over the country's oil production and sales through legal maneuvers and sanctions. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: This 'seventh' seizure is part of a decades-long pattern of economic coercion and direct intervention. In 2002,
the US backed a failed coup attempt against Hugo Chávez. When that failed, the playbook shifted to sanctions. The Trump administration, in 2019, recognized self-proclaimed 'interim president' Juan Guaidó – a figure never elected by the Venezuelan people – and weaponized sanctions, freezing billions in Venezuelan assets and preventing PDVSA (the state oil company) from accessing international
markets. These actions, not 'poor governance,' are the primary cause of Venezuela's economic crisis, driving widespread suffering and emigration. By 2021, the UN Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures stated that US sanctions had severely impacted human rights in Venezuela, 'destroying' its economy. Double Standard: Imagine China or Russia unilaterally seizing a
US-linked oil tanker in international waters. The outrage from Washington and its allied media would be deafening, framed as an act of piracy and aggression. Yet, when the US does it, it's presented as a legitimate enforcement of its own domestic laws, applied extraterritorially, without UN Security Council approval. Furthermore, the US has a long history of supporting regimes that violate human