The United States Treasury Department announced sanctions on four companies involved in the transportation of Venezuelan oil, this Wednesday (31), increasing pressure from Washington on the government of Nicolás Maduro. The measure also imposes the blockade of four oil tankers associated with these companies, identified by the US as members of the so-called “ghost fleet”, used to circumvent the control of American authorities.
The objective of the Donald Trump government is to restrict sources of revenue for the “Maduro narco-terrorist regime”, which relies on oil as one of its main financial supports.
According to the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac), the “four oil tankers associated” with the sanctioned companies are now identified as “blocked assets”. This means that they must be frozen – no one can move, use or employ them in buying and selling operations without federal authorization –, but they cannot be confiscated, as they remain the property of the sanctioned entity.
The vessels that make up the so-called ghost fleet are generally old, with opaque ownership, false flags and hidden cargo origins, as a way of circumventing international restrictions. The four boats of this type sanctioned this Wednesday by the USA are identified as Nord Star, Rosalind, Della and Valiante.
The sanctions seek to deny companies and oil workers access to any property or financial assets held in the US. Financial institutions, companies or individuals that violate restrictions of this type expose themselves to sanctions or inspection actions.
Campaign against the regime
The package announced this Wednesday complements, according to Washington, other recent punishments announced by Ofac on December 11 and 19, which sanctioned Maduro’s family members – such as first lady Cilia Flores and her nephew Carlos Erik Malpica Flores – and people in his immediate surroundings.
Since the middle of the year, Washington has undertaken an intense pressure campaign against the Venezuelan government, activating a military deployment unprecedented in decades in the southern Caribbean with the aim of destroying suspected narcolanchas, while accusing Maduro and the leadership of the Venezuelan government and Army of leading the Los Soles Cartel.
Since September, the Pentagon has destroyed around 40 vessels, killing 110 crew members. Only this Thursday (1st), the United States Armed Forces announced the destruction of two more suspected drug trafficking vessels in an attack that left five people dead.
The Trump administration began to argue in recent weeks that Chavismo stole facilities and assets from American oil companies in Venezuela, which led it to declare that it would confiscate sanctioned tankers transporting Venezuelan oil, something the US has already done on two occasions.
During Christmas week, the US also attacked a pier on the Venezuelan coast allegedly used by the Tren de Aragua criminal faction. The drone attack, carried out by the CIA, according to the American press, would represent the first bombing against a target in Venezuelan territory by Washington.
