sanctions oil tankers Venezuela Trump Maduro.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on four firms in Venezuela’s oil sector and designated four additional oil tankers as blocked property. The U.S. accuses the tankers of serving Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government. The action Wednesday is part of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on Maduro. U.S. forces also have seized two oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast, are pursuing another and have conducted a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States “will not allow the illegitimate Maduro regime to profit from exporting oil while it floods the United States with deadly drugs.”