US Seizes Tanker as 'Piracy,' Ignores Its Own History of Sanctions
The Independent breathlessly details the 'two-week chase' and 'outright piracy' surrounding the US seizure of the tanker Marinera , supposedly part of a 'shadow fleet' supporting Venezuela and Russia. The article meticulously chronicles the vessel's movements, sanctions, and its eventual forced redirection. What's omitted? Oh, just the inconvenient truth that US sanctions have, for decades,
strangled nations like Venezuela and Iran, making access to global markets—and thus, survival—an act of defiance. When you criminalize fundamental commerce, you don't 'discover' shadow fleets; you create them. One might wonder if the US Department of Justice considers its own decades-long practice of seizing Iranian oil tankers, or its ongoing blockade of Cuba (dating back to 1960), 'outright
piracy' when the targets are sovereign nations resisting US hegemony. Or does the definition of piracy conveniently shift based on who's doing the seizing? It’s almost as if 'international law' is less about universal principles and more about who holds the biggest stick—and the best PR machine.