The seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast this week comes after long-standing tensions between Washington and Caracas, starting with US sanctions in 2006 and most recently strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats.
2006: First Sanctions
Relations between Washington and Venezuela plummet after the arrival in power of President Hugo Chavez, Latin America’s leftist firebrand.
In 2006, the United States under President George W. Bush bans the sale of weapons and US-made military equipment to Venezuela, citing a lack of cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
By 2010, the two countries no longer have ambassadors in each other’s capitals.
2014: Accusations of Human Rights Violations
After Chavez dies in 2013 and his handpicked successor Nicolas Maduro takes over, the US administration of Barack Obama imposes, in late 2014 and early 2015, sanctions on several top Venezuelan officials, freezing their US assets and banning visas.
Washington accuses Venezuela of rights breaches in its violent crackdown on demonstrations against Maduro.
2017: Trump Raises ‘Military Option’
The first administration of Donald Trump in 2017 slaps financial sanctions on several top officials, including members of the supreme court, for having undermined the powers of parliament.
The legislative body had been under the control of the opposition since late 2015.
After Maduro created a Constituent Assembly to override parliament, Washington imposes sanctions on him, freezing his assets in the United States.
Trump for the first time speaks of a “military option” in Venezuela, a threat he would go on to repeat over the coming years.
Washington bans the purchase of bonds issued by the Venezuelan government and by national oil company PDVSA.
2019: Sanctions Toughened
After Maduro’s re-election, which Washington and other capitals consider a sham, Trump in 2019 toughens economic sanctions with the aim of strangling the country and ousting Maduro.
Caracas severs diplomatic relations after the United States, followed by dozens of other countries, recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.
Guaido’s self-proclaimed government is dissolved in 2023.
Washington also imposes sanctions on oil company PDVSA and Venezuela’s central bank.
2019: Oil Embargo
On April 28, 2019, Washington slaps an oil embargo on Venezuela. It then freezes all Venezuelan government assets in the United States.
The oil embargo is slightly eased in 2023 to compensate for a shortfall of Russian crude after the invasion of Ukraine.
It is reinstated when Washington says that Maduro is not meeting his commitment to hold a fair presidential election in 2024, with opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a future Nobel Peace laureate, declared ineligible.
At the beginning of his second term in early 2025, Trump puts a stop to the oil licences which allowed oil and gas multinationals to operate in Venezuela despite the sanctions.
US company Chevron is allowed to operate anew in July, but is no longer allowed to give money to the government.
2020: $50M Bounty for Maduro
In 2020 Maduro, and several of his entourage are charged in the United States with “narco-terrorism” with Washington offering a reward of $15 million for any information leading to his arrest.
In August 2025, it raises the reward to $50 million.
Washington accuses Maduro of leading the so-called “Cartel of the Suns,” whose existence remains to be proved, according to experts.
2025: airstrikes in the Caribbean
August 2025 signals the start of a massive military build-up in the Caribbean Sea, where Washington has since September been carrying out deadly airstrikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats, accusing Caracas of being behind drugs flooding into the United States.
On Wednesday, December 10 the United States says it had seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast. Caracas accuses Washington of international piracy.
