Donald Trump Says US To Launch Land Action in Venezuela ‘Very Soon’

[essentialsaltes]

Venezuelan navy escorts oil tankers in direct challenge to Trump blockade​

Venezuela’s navy has escorted commercial oil tankers to Asia in direct defiance of a U.S. military blockade targeting the country’s oil industry.

On Tuesday, Trump ordered a “total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers” into and out of Venezuela and demanded the return of oil that he claimed belonged to America.

Last week, the seizure of an oil tanker reported to be carrying sanctioned fuel led to a marked escalation in hostilities between Washington and Caracas.

Maduro has accused the U.S. of “fabricating” a war in order to exploit the country’s oil resources, but the White House insists it is targeting “narco-terrorists” and drug smugglers.

 

[essentialsaltes]

China accuses US of 'bullying' Venezuela as Trump orders blockade​

In a phone call on Wednesday, China's foreign minister Wang Yi told his Venezuelan counterpart, Yvan Gil, that Beijing supported Caracas in defending its sovereignty. [emphasis added]

The message of support came as the US president declared late on Tuesday that he had ordered the "blockade" on oil tankers into and out of the South American country.

He said the US military would remain in place until Venezuela returns "all of the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us".

 

[essentialsaltes]

US seizes another vessel off the coast of Venezuela

The move comes amid mounting tensions between the Caribbean country and the Trump administration.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Nithavela]

US seizes another vessel off the coast of Venezuela

The move comes amid mounting tensions between the Caribbean country and the Trump administration.

www.dailymail.co.uk

https://x.com/Sec_Noem/status/2002481990755627050

The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region. We will find you, and we will stop you.

Someone tell this poor woman that selling drugs is not a business that needs external funding.

Apparently it's also a chinese tanker. So.. yeah.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Rand Paul says seizure of oil tankers in Caribbean a 'prelude to war'​

Republican Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday criticized President Donald Trump's military mission off Venezuela's coast, calling the seizures of multiple oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea "a provocation and a prelude to war."

Paul also described the administration's policy of handling suspected drug traffickers as "bizarre and contradictory."

"why is the former president [Juan Orlando] Hernandez of Honduras, who was in jail for 45 years, why is he released?" Paul asked. "So, some narco-terrorists are really OK and other narco-terrorists we're going to blow up. And then some of them, if they're not designated as a terrorist, we might arrest them."

Rand Paul says seizure of oil tankers in Caribbean a 'prelude to war'

Republican Sen. Rand Paul criticized President Donald Trump’s military mission off Venezuela’s coast on Sunday.

abcnews.go.com

 

[wing2000]

US seizes another vessel off the coast of Venezuela

The move comes amid mounting tensions between the Caribbean country and the Trump administration.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday tried to intercept an oil tanker linked to Venezuela that is now fleeing away from the Caribbean Sea, according to three U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive operation, days after President Trump said he would crack down on sanctioned vessels involved in the country’s oil trade.

The tanker, called the Bella 1, was en route to pick up oil in Venezuela and was not carrying cargo, according to one of the officials and ship-tracking data, and fled northeast into the Atlantic Ocean.

Presumably, the Coast Guard is still pursing the Bella 1.

The Coast Guard had successfully boarded another tanker earlier on Saturday, ["Centuries"] and the United States had taken possession of a third tanker on Dec. 10 that is now at port in Texas.

....so that makes 3 tankers to date
1. "Skipper" - escorted to Port Arthur, TX. No word yet on what the U.S. will do with the tanker or the oil onboard.
2. "Centuries" - currently detained by the US Coast Guard off the coast of Venezuela
3. "Bella 1" -somewhere in the Atlantic...

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/us/politics/us-coast-guard-venezuela-oil-tankers.html

 

[essentialsaltes]

The Telegraph

Russia evacuates diplomats’ families from Venezuela​

Russia evacuates diplomats’ families from Venezuela

Move comes as Moscow and Beijing condemn US aggression against Maduro

www.telegraph.co.uk

link seems to work fine

Moscow Times

Russian MFA Denies Evacuating Embassy Staff From Venezuela - The Moscow Times

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denied reports that it was evacuating staff from its embassy in Venezuela as the United States steps up pressure on the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

www.themoscowtimes.com

 

[Pommer]

Gee, wouldn’t an ally hang around to broker a Peace deal?
Russia is against wars of conquest that they didn’t begin.

 

[Ellesmere]

Perhaps someone should inform President Trump that the role of the US military is not to function in the role as his personal assassination squad to eliminate leaders of those nations that have incurred his wrath - without even providing Congress with proof of his allegations!

Venezuela's leader may not be popular, but any intervention by the US military in general and with the international reputation of President Trump in particular, will unite its 30 million inhabitants in a way that Maduro never could!

Apparently America has forgotten the hard lessons from the past that although it may possess the world's most powerful military its usage also results in unintended consequences - removing a nation's leadership can destabilize the whole region - an open invitation for organized crime to fill the vacuum!

 

[wing2000]

Gee, wouldn’t an ally hang around to broker a Peace deal?
Russia is against wars of conquest that they didn’t begin.

...ah, but Venezuela is in America's "sphere of influence." You see, Ukraine belongs to Putin and Venezuela belongs to Trump. So long as let Putin's would be empire alone, he's willing to let Trump have Latin America.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Trump Reveals American Forces Took Out ‘Big Facility’ in Venezuelan Pressure Campaign

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-reveals-american-forces-took-120157284.html We cannot give in to terrorism.

www.christianforums.com

Trump did not name the location of the facility, though American officials told the New York Times that the president was referring to a drug facility in Venezuela that was eliminated. The president’s comment is the only report of such an attack. No other Latin American government, including Venezuela, has disclosed a strike of this sort.

 

[wing2000]

Trump Reveals American Forces Took Out ‘Big Facility’ in Venezuelan Pressure Campaign

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-reveals-american-forces-took-120157284.html We cannot give in to terrorism.

www.christianforums.com

Trump did not name the location of the facility, though American officials told the New York Times that the president was referring to a drug facility in Venezuela that was eliminated. The president’s comment is the only report of such an attack. No other Latin American government, including Venezuela, has disclosed a strike of this sort.

Interesting that Pete isn't bragging about the strike nor providing videos....

 

[essentialsaltes]

Interesting that Pete isn't bragging about the strike nor providing videos....

Maybe Pete shared the info on tomorrow's strike with the President on Signal.

 

[Trogdor the Burninator]

These actions must be part of that whole "Trump stopping the US getting involved in foreign wars" thing I keep hearing about.

Either that or a distraction from anything that gets leaked from the Epstein files.

 

[wing2000]

The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday tried to intercept an oil tanker linked to Venezuela that is now fleeing away from the Caribbean Sea, according to three U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive operation, days after President Trump said he would crack down on sanctioned vessels involved in the country’s oil trade.

The tanker, called the Bella 1, was en route to pick up oil in Venezuela and was not carrying cargo, according to one of the officials and ship-tracking data, and fled northeast into the Atlantic Ocean.

Presumably, the Coast Guard is still pursing the Bella 1.

The Coast Guard had successfully boarded another tanker earlier on Saturday, ["Centuries"] and the United States had taken possession of a third tanker on Dec. 10 that is now at port in Texas.

....so that makes 3 tankers to date
1. "Skipper" - escorted to Port Arthur, TX. No word yet on what the U.S. will do with the tanker or the oil onboard.
2. "Centuries" - currently detained by the US Coast Guard off the coast of Venezuela
3. "Bella 1" -somewhere in the Atlantic...

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/us/politics/us-coast-guard-venezuela-oil-tankers.html

Lated update on the "Bella 1" - 26 Dec...

While the US is still pursuing the Bella 1, there isn’t a major rush to board the ship as it continues to sail away from Venezuela, one official said. The ship is currently empty.

[....who wants an empty oil tanker anyway?]

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/26/politics/venezuelan-tanker-pursuit-forcible-boarding

 

[essentialsaltes]

The US president said there had been a "major explosion" where "they load the boats up with drugs" - but did not give more details or the dock's location. Venezuela's government is yet to respond.

The explosion was caused by a drone strike carried out by the CIA, according to CNN and the New York Times, which cited sources close to the matter. If confirmed, it would be the first known US operation inside Venezuela.

 

[wing2000]

The US president said there had been a "major explosion" where "they load the boats up with drugs" - but did not give more details or the dock's location. Venezuela's government is yet to respond.

The explosion was caused by a drone strike carried out by the CIA, according to CNN and the New York Times, which cited sources close to the matter. If confirmed, it would be the first known US operation inside Venezuela.

Reporters asked Trump on Monday if the CIA had carried out the attack, and he said: "I don't want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don't want to say who it was."

...that would explain Pete's silence (if in fact the CIA carried it out).

 

[essentialsaltes]

China accuses US of 'bullying' Venezuela as Trump orders blockade​

In a phone call on Wednesday, China's foreign minister Wang Yi told his Venezuelan counterpart, Yvan Gil, that Beijing supported Caracas in defending its sovereignty. [emphasis added]

Chinese Oil Tankers Challenge US Blockade off Venezuela​

Chinese oil tankers are pressing ahead with Venezuela-linked voyages despite a U.S. blockade and an escalating campaign of tanker seizures.

Two Chinese-flagged VLCCs are operating near Venezuelan waters, with the Thousand Sunny due to arrive in mid-January and the Xing Ye waiting off French Guiana, according to a new report by Lloyd's List.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Venezuela-bound oil tanker paints Russian flag on its hull while on the run from the US​

The Bella 1, which has been on the run from US forces since Dec. 21, saw its crew claim that the ship is under Moscow’s protection while en route to pick up oil in Venezuela, the New York Times reported.

It’s unclear exactly when the Russian flag was painted on its hull, but it appears to have happened sometime last week when the ship was first intercepted in the Caribbean Sea and forced to make a U-turn.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Venezuela-bound oil tanker paints Russian flag on its hull while on the run from the US​

The Bella 1, which has been on the run from US forces since Dec. 21, saw its crew claim that the ship is under Moscow’s protection while en route to pick up oil in Venezuela, the New York Times reported.

It’s unclear exactly when the Russian flag was painted on its hull, but it appears to have happened sometime last week when the ship was first intercepted in the Caribbean Sea and forced to make a U-turn.

I guess we will see how strong the bromance is and who's wearing the pants in our special relationship with Russia.