The Western Hemisphere includes all the oil tankers in the world
The seizure of the oil tanker formerly known as the Bella 1, and now called Marinera, after Russia granted it the right to display the flag of the Russian Federation, has technically been made in the Western Hemisphere, which is westwards of the Greenwich meridian.
Trump’s Hemisphere. So everything is OK, right?
There are three countries whose oil exports are restricted under various sanctions
🇻🇪 Venezuela:
- Who imposed the sanctions? The 🇺🇸 US and the US only has imposed comprehensive sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports, including vessel restrictions.
🇮🇷 Iran:
- Who imposed the sanctions?
- The 🇺🇳 UN has instated and reinstated sanctions, including restrictions on Iranian oil exports and related shipping.
- The 🇺🇸 US has imposed additional comprehensive sanctions, including vessel restrictions.
- The 🇪🇺 EU has instated and reinstated restrictions on importing, purchasing, and transporting Iranian crude oil and petroleum products, plus vessel-related services.
🇷🇺 Russia:
- Who imposed the sanctions?
- The 🇺🇸 US has imposed an import ban on Russian oil since March 2022 and more recently added additional sanctions on major Russian oil companies.
- The 🇪🇺 EU has instated a comprehensive ban on Russian crude oil and refined petroleum products, plus restrictions on vessels and related services.
In brief, Iran is the only country with UN-mandated oil vessel restrictions. The US has embargoes on all three countries’ oil vessels, while the EU has embargoes on Iran and Russia, but not Venezuela.
But an import ban on oil coming from any of these three countries is almost irrelevant
What matters is who and when can seize oil tankers under such restrictions. As we saw in the case of the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro, the US claims global jurisdiction (and internal courts are OK with that), and the US usually only targeted oil tankers leaving Iran and Venezuela, but not those under the Russian flag. Until today.
In the long history of planet Earth, and not counting the high seas pirates, only the 🇺🇸 United States seized and actively seizes oil tankers on the high seas under a self-declared secondary sanctions authority. The 🇪🇺 EU and the 🇺🇳 UN impose restrictions but do not conduct interdictions or seizures of vessels. International sanctions are meant as an economic deterrent, not as an act of war.
Except that the United States, who couldn’t be bothered to put real pressure on Russia regarding the war in Ukraine, now seized a vessel under Russia’s flag.
As well-organized empires sometimes do, the US has internal law to back its claims and actions:
- The US sanctions laws allow seizure of sanctioned vessels or those facilitating trade with sanctioned entities globally, even in international waters.
- The US typically obtains a federal court warrant before seizure, so it could claim this is not a blockade but a law enforcement action. (Sure, Maduro’s kidnapping was also “a law enforcement action.”)
The US is the only actor that actively seizes oil tankers under global sanctions enforcement, and it does so under US law, even in international waters. This is high seas piracy under the cover of internal law.
Make no mistake, Russia is not a victim, and Maduro is not a hero
The issue at stake here is not Russia’s flag not being able to protect a vessel in international waters from attacks from countries that are not at war with Russia. The issue at stake is that the United States can do whatever they want to do, wherever they want to do it.
Similarly, the issue with Nicolás Maduro is not that the president of Venezuela was a hero and a victim of the United States. The issue is that he was abducted on legal pretenses and outside the US jurisdiction, and he’s now tried on narco-trafficking charges, not for being a dictator.
There are two victims in what the US has done in the last week:
- The international law and the world order, or whatever semblance of it was still fooling us.
- The people of Venezuela.
Again, I don’t care about Russia, especially considering what happens in Ukraine. But Trump’s actions are neither good deeds nor strict observance and enforcement of the law.
Trump doesn’t care in the least about the Venezuelan people. He doesn’t want free and fair elections to be held in Venezuela in the foreseeable future. He wants Venezuela’s oil and other mineral resources, even if that means that the current military junta remains in power and collaborates with the US!
By military junta, I mean Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, holding Delcy Rodríguez as a folding screen. Traitors or no traitors, they might continue to be in power.
Once again, US imperialism only pretends to do good to the dependent states.
Karoline Leavitt, in today’s press conference at 33:52:
Unfortunately, he [Nicolás Maduro] was an illegitimate dictator and an unserious person.
Well said! Unlike Donald Trump, who is a legitimate dictator and a very serious person, right?
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, today:
We’re going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela, first this backed-up stored oil, and then indefinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace.
By the way, the UK military supported the US operation to seize the tanker in the Atlantic. Here’s a statement from UK Defence Secretary John Healey:
Today our UK Armed Forces showed skill and professionalism in support of a successful U.S. interception of the vessel Bella 1 while on its way to Russia.
This action formed part of global efforts to crack down on sanctions busting.
This ship, with a nefarious history, is part of a Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion which is fuelling terrorism, conflict, and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine.
The UK will continue to step up our action against shadow fleet activity to protect our national security, our economy, and global stability – making Britain secure at home and strong abroad.
Lackeys.
Greenland is another sign of Trump’s ignominy
Under the 1941 agreement, the US has extensive rights to build bases in Greenland, and yet, they have closed or abandoned more than 30 military bases and installations in Greenland since World War II. Only the former Thule Air Base remains active today. So there’s no need to annex Greenland in order to enforce the US military presence there!
After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the various US Administrations perceived that the threat from Russia decreased dramatically, making it harder to justify the enormous costs of maintaining dozens of Arctic bases. So the closure of most bases was a mix of a strategic reassessment and a cost-benefit analysis, not something imposed by either Greenland or Denmark.
Some European supporters of Trump have found the following justification that nobody asked for:
- Since 2014, Russia has built an enormous number of military bases in the Arctic.
- Denmark, the EU, and NATO didn’t do almost anything in reaction.
- Russia has a huge Arctic fleet of nuclear strategic submarines and over a hundred bombers permanently stationed there.
- Denmark and the EU have virtually nothing.
- Meanwhile, the US has 68 nuclear submarines, 11 aircraft carriers, 22 cruisers, 73 destroyers, 300 naval combat aircraft, and 140 strategic bombers. It’s the only military power that could stop the Russian expansion in the Arctic.
- Therefore, the US needs to invest more in the region, especially in Greenland. (Or to invest Greenland!)
- But this comes at a cost that could not be justified domestically. By making Greenland part of the US, much like Puerto Rico, all such expenses would be “for the US,” so they would be received better internally.
As if Trump would care about what people think of him.
Facts:
- Russia announced in 2014 plans to reopen 50 former Soviet Arctic bases. Russia has built more than 475 military installations along its northern border in recent years, according to The Economist, cited by Newsweek. However, many are radar stations, airfields, and small installations, not full military bases.
- Russia’s Northern Fleet operates approximately 31 submarines in total, with variable operational status.
- Denmark announced two major Arctic agreements in 2025 totaling over DKK 42 billion (about $6.3 billion) for Arctic defense, including new vessels, patrol aircraft, drones, and radar systems.
- Save for a $323 million contract in 2024 to modernize the Pituffik (ex-Thule) Space Base, the US:
- Made no other effort to expand its military presence in Greenland.
- Made no demands whatsoever to Greenland, Denmark, the EU, or NATO to support a part of future military investments in Greenland.
Trump only acts on whims and desires. When he wants a toy, he must have it!
He doesn’t care about justice, democracy, or cooperation. He’s a thug.
We now have a new world dictator! Well, at least he’s not young…
But the US will remain a threat for everyone, even if Trump disappears.
Trump, on Truth Social:
Also on Truth Social:
“But the US will remain a threat for everyone, even if Trump disappears.”
Now, like I have been saying since 2016, we should stop blaming Trump, I actually appreciate his… honesty?! At least now a few more people, specially in Europe, are able to see what the US is actually doing. Trump just operates as mandated by the “apparatus”, he just does it abruptly and rudely than Democrats and most Republicans would. If tomorrow the Democrats were leading the White House, Congress and Senate, the tone would dramatically have changed, but 100% of the foreign policy and 90% of the internal would have been exactly the same, and nothing would rectify… let alone the returning of Greenland.
Maduro’s last election, after hours searching from all sources it is contested in my eyes. The previous one was not, he won plain and squarely. Given the opposition been saying from 2 decades already that all Venezuelan elections were massively ridged when no credible observer knew Chavez and Maduro had vast support just reminds me that of the boy who cried wolf story. In any case, it is clear that for at least 5 yrs, Venezuela is under heavy attack by the US (both with vast novice intelligence acts and the heaviest of sanctions) and in this condition there is no possible to hold a democratic vote anyways. Likewise, I detest that Kyiv also stooped elections, but it is quite reasonable under the current circumstances too. But also, from 2014 till 2022 there was no democracy, since big chunk of the country were not allowed to exercise the vote and many, many parties banned, but no leader in Europe raised an eyebrow at that then as they do with Maduro.
Regarding Kyiv: Britain didn’t hold elections during the war. They did it right after the capitulation of the Third Reich, and Churchill lost. But you cannot organize elections when missiles and drones are pouring, and this piece of shit of Vladimir Vladimirovich does not agree to ANY ceasefire!
True, I understand it completely since 2022! As I consider 2024 Venezuela elections as contested/suspended under the less explosive, but equally devastated and malice intend by a powerful foreign adversary to interfere in the country’s elections.
Now, there is also the argument that Ukraine can actually have elections today since the parts occupied and controlled by Russia were exactly the ones Ukraine deposed from vote during 2014-2022 anyways. Russia inference in the rest of the country is not with ballot boxes and I think those residents are well vaccinated from Russian propaganda anyways. I leave this to constitutional experts to decide.
Nope. (1) Missiles and drones are falling in Kyiv and other “free” cities, too. (2) No country on Earth has EVER organized elections during wartime.
I understand, I said I give it a “pass” check.
Exceptions as you mention are few, but they are.
– US held elections during Civil War (1864), how though ?!
– My Spain held one 3-days after a massive attack too in 2004 too (it was one of the three “coalition if the willing” against Iraq. That attack is widely seen as decissive in the election outcome. Don’t know if Aznar would had let that again though.
– Russia is at war and bombed internally too but doubt it would had canceled elections if they had one planned too. Of course, the level of foreign influence is not the same if you think the attacker is just Ukraine… but if you consider it is NATO, the equation change… ok, ok, I should not had included Russia here.
– Iran, that has been bombed several times by strong agressive foreign entities with all means; bombs and media and heavy sanctions and intelligence acts but keeps doing elections no mater what (Probably they don’t have a choice to keep protests manageable).
– The US Civil War was before they become civilized (so to speak).
– Spain in 2004 was not in a war over its territory.
– Iran is a special case.
The past 100 years have been a headfake on the “rules based order” and “democracy.” Realism and Great Men have always been drivers to international relations. For the most part, there are no “independent” smaller countries, only “limited sovereignty” and spheres of influence. President Trump didn’t give the order without consulting at least with Putin. There have been many realignments in the past 10 years, Afghanistan, Armenia, Moldova, Syria, Libya, etc. and Ukraine, of course.
At most with Putin.