THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
Few days ago, the United States began seizing oil tankers carrying Venezuelan crude to China and other countries. President Trump announced a blockade of Venezuelan oil shipments, and US forces have captured at least two vessels in international waters. This is part of a larger pressure campaign that includes military strikes and threats of land invasions.
Some of the social media stated the goal is to cut off money to Venezuela’s government and pressure China. This seems to appear to be about reasserting US control over Venezuelan oil that was nationalized decades ago and forcing regime change—but those goals are politically toxic, so they’ve been dressed up as counter-narcotics operations.
According to Al Jazeera, Trump let the cat out of the bag, when he stated that the blockade would continue “until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us”.
This clearly appears to reference when Venezuela decades ago nationalized an oil industry that the United States and others helped to create.
But this action raises serious questions about international law, fairness, and who really pays the price.
Breaking the Rules
The United States often speaks about the importance of following international rules. It criticizes other countries like Russia and China when they violate these principles. Yet the current actions against Venezuela appear to break the very same rules.
The United Nations Charter is clear. Countries cannot use force against other nations except in self-defense or with UN Security Council approval. Neither applies here. The UN also says that only the Security Council can impose and enforce international sanctions, not individual countries acting alone.
Legal experts point out that the US has no legal authority to enforce its own sanctions on ships in international waters. Under international maritime law, countries cannot board or seize vessels unless specific exceptions apply, like piracy or slave trade. Venezuela’s oil exports don’t fit these categories.
The Double Standard Problem
This creates an uncomfortable contradiction. How can America tell the world to respect international law while ignoring it when convenient? When the US asks other nations to respect sovereignty and UN procedures but doesn’t follow them itself, it weakens those very principles.
Countries like China and Russia use these contradictions to defend their own questionable actions. They argue that international law is just a tool powerful countries use when it suits them, not a real system of justice. This makes it harder to hold anyone accountable.
Who Really Suffers
The biggest problem might be who gets hurt by these actions. Venezuela exports oil to China and India, but also to many developing countries that desperately need affordable energy. These poorer nations often buy Venezuelan oil at discounted prices because they lack the money and power to get better deals elsewhere.
When oil shipments are blocked, several things happen. Global oil prices can rise. Countries dependent on Venezuelan oil face shortages. Nations already struggling with poverty and energy access suffer even more. And the people who make these decisions—politicians in Washington—face none of these consequences.
Countries in the Caribbean, Central America, and parts of Africa have no involvement in the dispute between the US and Venezuela. They didn’t create this conflict. They have no vote in US policy. Yet they may face higher energy costs, economic instability, and real hardship for their citizens.
This raises a basic question of fairness: Is it right for one powerful country to take actions that hurt innocent third parties, especially poorer nations that can least afford it?
The Pattern of Sanctions
History shows us that sanctions often hurt ordinary people more than the governments they target. The Venezuelan people have already suffered tremendously under both their own government’s failures and international sanctions. Now, people in other developing countries may suffer too.
The cruel irony is that sanctions are supposed to be a moral alternative to war. They’re meant to pressure governments without violence. But when sanctions cause food shortages, medical crises, and economic collapse for millions of innocent people, can we really call them humane?
Power Without Accountability
What we’re witnessing is power without accountability. The United States can seize ships, threaten military action, and disrupt global oil markets because it has the military and economic strength to do so. Other countries cannot stop it. The United Nations cannot stop it. International law, it turns out, only works when powerful countries choose to follow it.
This is sometimes defended as “America First” policy or tough negotiation. Supporters argue that the US must be strong and protect its interests. But strength without principle is just bullying. And when that bullying hurts the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, it becomes something worse.
A Question of Justice
The current situation forces us to ask hard questions. What kind of international order do we want? One based on rules that apply to everyone equally, or one where might makes right? Can we build a just world when the powerful can ignore the rules designed to protect the weak?
These aren’t just abstract questions. They have real consequences for real people. A family in Cuba struggling to afford electricity. A small business in India facing higher costs. A hospital in a developing nation unable to afford fuel for its generators.
None of these people had any say in US policy toward Venezuela. None of them benefit from this confrontation. Yet all of them may pay the price.
Conclusion
The United States has every right to have concerns about Venezuela’s government. But the way those concerns are addressed matters. Unilateral actions that break international law, bypass the United Nations, and cause harm to innocent third parties undermine the very principles of justice and cooperation the world desperately needs.
If we want a world where international law matters, where smaller nations are protected, and where disputes are resolved through negotiation rather than force, then everyone must follow the rules—especially the powerful.
The real test of any system isn’t how it treats the powerful. It’s how it protects the vulnerable. By that measure, the current approach is failing.
References
1.https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/20/us-seizes-vessel-off-venezuelan-coast-reuters.html?msockid=0758100fa2f464b7199a06c7a39165e3
2.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/20/us-seizes-second-oil-vessel-off-venezuela-coast-officials-say
3.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/17/trump-orders-total-blockade-of-sanctioned-venezuelan-oil-tankers
4.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-17/trump-s-venezuela-oil-embargo-what-blockade-means-for-country-s-energy-sector
5.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/11/act-of-piracy-or-law-can-the-us-legally-seize-a-venezuelan-tanker
