BLACKED OUT: Maduro’s Black Market for Venezuela’s Oil In Jeopardy

By
Richard C. Young
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President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump observe naval sea power demonstrations in honor of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy, Sunday, October 5, 2025, aboard the USS George H.W. Bush in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

President Trump’s blockade of sanctioned oil vessels heading to and from Venezuela will create a lot of pressure on President Nicolas Maduro and his petroleum-funded regime. At the Atlantic Council, Jason Marczak writes:

This blockade adds significant pressure to Maduro’s regime, as these shadow tankers act as a financial lifeline that Maduro relies on to sustain his corrupt patronage system. Sanctioned vessels operate in a global black market, transporting US-sanctioned oil that has been critical over the years to the ability for Maduro to stay in power.

Since the initial US seizure of the Skipper last week, Venezuelan crude exports have fallen sharply, effectively targeting Maduro’s main source of income. Venezuela relies entirely on tankers to export its oil, and disrupting the illegal trade that runs on these sanctioned tankers weakens Maduro’s grip on power. As of last week, more than thirty of the eighty ships in Venezuelan waters were under US sanctions.

Frankly, with the size of the US fleet amassed in the Caribbean, it was only a matter of time before this blockade began. It will be important to see which of these shadow vessels continue to try to reach Venezuelan shores and which vessels the United States determines it has the authority to seize. These ships are part of a large shadow shipping network designed to evade US sanctions and mask the destination of Venezuelan crude. This illegal trade network delivers oil primarily to China, and to a lesser extent Cuba, employing several tactics to disguise the origin, name, and shipping routes to evade US regulations.

The blockade of these sanctioned vessels provides an additional source of leverage for the United States. By cutting off a significant part of the regime’s income, the United States gains an additional chip to put on the table in discussions on ending Maduro’s dictatorship in Venezuela. This move elevates the Caribbean campaign from a counter-drug operation to one that is also cutting off the financial lifelines to Maduro, who the United States has designated as the leader of the Cartel de los Soles.

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