Maduro deploys his navy to escort Venezuelan oil tankers and defies Trump’s blockade

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Nicolás Maduro ordered the deployment of the Venezuelan navy to escort the tankers after the US blockade imposed by Donald Trump.

Ships carrying petroleum products have headed to the Asian market, despite the threat of sanctions and additional actions from the United States.

The Venezuelan government defends the right to free navigation and commerce and warns that it will preserve the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Maduro called for uniting the armies of Venezuela and Colombia against the United States and alerted the United Nations to growing tensions and threats in the region.

As he continues to call for peace, Nicolas Maduro moves the tab to your pulse with Donald Trump. The Venezuelan president reacted to “total and complete” blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving the country and ordered the deployment of the Bolivarian Navy to protect boats. A movement that exacerbates tensions and brings the possibility of armed conflict closer.

According to reports The New York Timesseveral ships carrying petroleum products set sail from the port of José, on the eastern coast of Venezuela, between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morninga few hours after the decision of the Republican president, who decreed that Maduro is the leader of a “narcoterrorist” organization.

The sources cited by the American newspaper assure that the destination of the tankers is the Asian market. However, it remains unclear whether the escorted ships are part of the list of ships subject to sanctions by the Trump administration, already aware of the military deployment of the Chavista regime and evaluates new actions.

An anti-Trump demonstration this week in Caracas.

Leonardo Fernández Viloria

Reuters

The National Oil Company of Venezuela (PDVSA) indicated this Wednesday in a statement that the vessels linked to its operations “continue to sail with full insurance”, technical support and operational guaranteesin the legitimate exercise of the rights to free navigation and free trade, widely recognized and protected by international law.

The Minister of Defense of Venezuela, Vladimir Padrino López, added that the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) will preserve “at all costs” territorial integrity and that it will defend “legitimate rights over its air and maritime spaces; and irreducibly, it will defend its freedom, its sovereignty, its independence and its peace.”

Maduro, for his part, stressed that Caracas would continue “(oil) trade here and there” and considered Trump’s statement as “a warlike and colonialist pretension”. Venezuela’s Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, and Parliament Speaker, Jorge Rodríguez, have also been blunt in stating that crude oil belongs to Venezuelans.

“No oil will be given or stolen for the benefit of a foreign power.. We will continue to be free and independent in our energy relationships. With President Nicolas Maduro, we will continue to defend the homeland. “Looting and plundering will not return!” wrote Delcy Rodríguez in a message published on Telegram.

Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the War Department, executed a seizure warrant on a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For many… pic.twitter.com/dNr0oAGl5x

– Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 10, 2025

About 40% of tankers that have transported Venezuelan crude in recent years have been subject to U.S. sanctions, according to Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com.

Last week, in a move that surprised Pentagon leaders, Trump ordered the seizure of the Venezuelan tanker. Skipperwhich was carrying nearly two million barrels of crude oil. US administration sources suggest the Republican president has already given the green light to plans to intercept more sanctioned vessels.

Military merger with Colombia

In his statements published by the Bolivarian Society on the anniversary of the death of Simón Bolívar, Maduro called on the Colombia of Gustavo Petro, also threatened by Trump, to unite the two armies against the United States. The Chavista leader made this proposal as a defensive alliance to guarantee the future and independence of the two countries.

“The greatest guarantee of peace and stability is unity. This is why today I am launching a Gran-Colombian appeal to the Colombian people, to their social movements, to their political forces and to their military. I call you to perfect union with Venezuela so that no one tries to affect the sovereignty of our countries and apply the Bolivar principle, that of permanent union,” he declared.

Maduro also had a phone call with the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterresto alert him to “the escalation of threats” from the United States and “its serious implications for regional peace”.

According to a Venezuelan government statement released Wednesday, the Chavista leader mentioned to Guterres a message from Trump on social media saying that Venezuela “is surrounded” by “the largest army ever assembled in the history of South America.” Maduro called these statements “expressions of an overtly colonial character.”

The UN chief during the meeting reaffirmed the organization’s position that member states must “exercise moderation, reduce tensions and preserve regional stability”. Caracas denounced Washington’s “open and criminal aggression” before the United Nations Security Council.

Again on Wednesday, the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, called on the UN to play its role to avoid “bloodshed” in the context of tensions between Caracas and Washington. Trinidad and Tobago also spoke out about this blockade and denied any involvement.