By Raúl Antonio Capote on December 22, 2025
Navy patrol boat from the boardwalk of Lake Maracaibo in Maracaibo Venezuela. Photo: EFE/ Henry Chirinos
On Tuesday, December 16, 2025, US President Donald Trump ordered a total blockade of “sanctioned” oil tankers bound for Venezuela.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Navy ever assembled in the history of South America,” the US president said on his social media platform Truth Social.
It may be “the largest Navy ever assembled in the history of South America,” but what the White House should not ignore is that this is not the first time that empires across the seas have tried, without success, to use a naval blockade to subdue the sons and daughters of Bolívar’s land.
During the 19th century, the Spanish Empire declared a naval blockade of the Venezuelan coast on two occasions. Both episodes were motivated by Spain’s attempt to regain control or put pressure on its former colony, which had become independent.
During the War of Independence (1810-1823), Spanish royalist forces established blockades in the main ports to economically suffocate the First and Second Republics. The actions focused on key ports such as La Guaira, to prevent the arrival of weapons, reinforcements, and supplies to the insurgents.
After the patriotic victory at the Battle of Carabobo (1821), Spanish forces were cornered in the fortresses of Puerto Cabello. The royalist navy attempted to blockade the Venezuelan coast to support the last remaining garrisons and, in a final effort, try to reverse independence. This strategy ultimately failed with the final fall of Puerto Cabello in November 1823.
But the most famous and severe blockade of the 19th century was that of 1829-1830, which occurred after the dissolution of Gran Colombia (of which Venezuela was a part). It was therefore a siege against the Republic of Venezuela, now a sovereign state. The Spanish government then equipped an expedition with the aim of reconquering some territories in America. The fleet, commanded by Admiral Ángel Laborde y Navarro, set sail from Cuba bound for the Venezuelan coast.
The Spanish fleet intercepted and captured numerous merchant ships, both Venezuelan and from other nations, causing serious damage to trade. Such actions continued until 1830. However, Spain, isolated internationally, did not dare to sustain a costly and unviable land invasion and finally gave in.
There are also historical parallels between the current US naval blockade of Venezuela and that imposed by the European powers between 1902 and 1903, which also involved the confiscation of ships. On that occasion, they bombarded fortifications and seized and sank Venezuelan navy ships. The British Empire, the German Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, and the United States were involved in these acts.
They then attempted to justify the action as a forced collection of Venezuela’s foreign debt and compensation for damage to foreign citizens and property.
In short, the strategy of using a naval blockade and the seizure of ships to put political and economic pressure on Venezuela has a clear historical precedent. The methods and rhetoric may differ, but the dynamic of a power (or powers) using its naval force to impose demands is repeating itself more than a century later.
If there is one thing that the naval blockades of empires against Venezuela have in common, it is the undisguised purpose of appropriating its wealth. And the end result of such ambitions has historically been the defeat of the aggressor.
The seizure of the oil tanker Skipper last week off the coast of Venezuela is an example of the type of operation that would be carried out against “sanctioned” vessels. The announcement has already caused oil tankers to change course or move away from Venezuelan waters to avoid possible seizures.
This escalation is the latest point in a crisis that began in August 2025 and which Washington justifies as an operation against drug trafficking. They speak of combating narco-terrorism, human trafficking, and the financing of the “illegitimate Maduro regime,” designated by the White House as a “foreign terrorist organization.” However, the naval operation actually seeks to paralyze the oil sector, which is already operating below capacity due to previous coercive measures, in order to destroy the country’s economy.
As senior Trump administration officials have described, the measures taken are intended to pressure President Nicolás Maduro to “step aside.”
It should be noted that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles recently confirmed the intentions against Venezuela: Trump “wants to keep flying ships until Maduro surrenders,” she said in an interview with Vanity Fair published on Tuesday.
Views of the Network – Raúl Antonio Capote
The response of the “brave people” will always be the same: unity, military resistance, popular mobilization, and denunciation before the UN for violations of international law and acts of “piracy.”
A brief review of history would not hurt the current privateers of Washington. Not a few ships of former great empires lie in the depths of the Caribbean waters, wrecks that are reminders of spurious claims.