A US warship cuts off the Caribbean route of a Russian oil tanker heading to Venezuela

He Seahorse was heading to Venezuela to deliver a shipment of fuel and thus alleviate the serious fuel crisis that the South American country is experiencing, despite having the largest proven oil reserves in the world.

The journey It was interrupted last November 13but it was only known this Friday and, according to the US agency, “raises doubts about whether Washington could intervene to cut Moscow’s energy aid to Caracas.”

The ship changed course and headed towards Cuba. Subsequently, has tried to approach Venezuela on two occasionsbut has returned in both and remains aimless in the Caribbean.

The Venezuelan crisis has caused shortage of many basic products. Among them is gasoline, which is why the Nicolás Maduro regime has asked its closest allies for help and has received large quantities of fuel from Iran.

These Iranian shipments have been crucial for the supply of gasoline in Venezuela.

Despite not having official data, various sources have confirmed that Caracas pays part of its debt with Russia through oil shipments.

He Seahorsealways according Bloombergis one of four Russian vessels that transport a diluent called naphtha to Venezuela, a country subject to several sanctions by the United States and other Western nations.

The crude oil Venezuela produces is mostly dense and sulfurous, meaning it needs lighter petroleum derivatives to facilitate transportation through pipelines.

He USS Stockdale arrived in the Caribbean at the end of September as part of the great military deployment that Trump has arranged near the coast of Venezuela.

The objective is to launch a major operation against drug traffickingdespite the fact that the main drug shipping routes from South America to the US pass through the Pacific.

The US offers a reward of $50 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest. This figure was doubled in August 2025 by President Trump’s administration, following accusations of drug trafficking and collaboration with international criminal organizations.

This Sunday, while the American aircraft carrier Gerald Fordthe largest in the world, sailed the waters of the Caribbean, the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado He asked his country’s military to “put down their weapons.”

“What is going to happen is already happening. That decisive hour is imminent, the position that each one takes will mark their life forever. History, the law and the Venezuelan people will be their judges,” he warned them.