Venezuela Approves Law Penalizing Support For Blockades, Citing US Seizures of Oil Tankers

Venezuela’s National Assembly has approved a law that imposes stiff penalties—including prison terms of up to 20 years—on people who support or finance blockades and acts of piracy. The measure was passed on Tuesday amid heightened diplomatic and military tensions after the United States seized oil tankers linked to Venezuela, actions the Maduro government denounced as illegal piracy.

Presenting the bill, lawmaker Giuseppe Alessandrello said the measure is intended to “protect the national economy and avoid the erosion of living standards for the population.” The Assembly that approved the law is controlled by President Nicolás Maduro’s governing party.

In recent months the U.S. has taken a series of forceful steps in the region: deploying military assets to the Caribbean, seizing oil tankers, conducting strikes that reportedly killed dozens of people aboard vessels the U.S. described as drug-trafficking boats, and publicly threatening possible ground operations against Venezuela.

The legality of some of those actions—such as the seizure of oil tankers on the high seas—is disputed under international law; other operations, including strikes against suspected traffickers, have been widely criticized as unlawful by some governments and rights groups.

“We are in the presence of a power that acts outside of international law, demanding that Venezuelans vacate our country and hand it over,” Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council. “The threat is not Venezuela. The threat is the U.S. government.”

China and Russia condemned the U.S. actions at the U.N. Security Council. Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, warned that the Trump administration was creating a potentially dangerous “template” for the use of force in the region. From the chamber, Al Jazeera correspondent Gabriel Elizondo reported clear diplomatic backing for Venezuela from Russia and China, and support from several other states urging the U.S. to respect international law and pursue de-escalation. He also noted that a number of right-leaning governments in the region—including Argentina, Panama and Chile—appeared more sympathetic to the U.S. position.

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. special operations aircraft and cargo planes transporting troops were moved into the Caribbean this week. President Donald Trump was quoted saying: “We have a massive armada formed, the biggest we’ve ever had, and by far the biggest we’ve ever had in South America.”

The Maduro government says Washington aims to topple it and seize Venezuela’s oil reserves—a charge the U.S. administration has denied; some U.S. officials have made assertions about control of oil assets that critics call unfounded. The White House stated it would retain oil seized from tankers and the vessels themselves.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz described oil sales as a “primary economic lifeline for Maduro and his illegitimate regime,” repeating allegations—disputed by Maduro’s government—that the president oversees a broad criminal enterprise involved in drug trafficking. Waltz framed transnational criminal and terrorist groups as the hemisphere’s gravest security threat.

Rights groups say the U.S. pressure campaign has been used by Caracas as a pretext to justify a tougher domestic security stance. Observers report increased repression since the disputed July 2024 presidential election, which Maduro declared he won; the opposition contests the result and only a limited number of countries recognized Maduro’s claimed victory.

Outlook: The new law is likely to heighten tensions between Caracas and Washington and could further complicate diplomatic efforts at the U.N. and in the region. Questions about the legality of recent maritime seizures and the potential for escalation mean the situation remains volatile and closely watched by international actors.