Venezuela latest: Trump threatens land strikes 'soon' - as US sanctions 'narco nephews'

By Ed Conway, economics and data editor

Donald Trump wants you to know that there is one leading reason why he is bearing down militarily on Venezuela: drugs.

It is, he has said repeatedly, that country's part in the production and smuggling of illegal narcotics into America that lies behind the ratcheting up of forces in the Caribbean in recent weeks. 

But what if there's something else going on here too? What if this is really all about oil?

Watch: Why Trump cares about Venezuela

In one respect, this is clearly preposterous. After all, the United States is, by a country mile, the world's biggest oil producer. 

Venezuela is a comparative minnow these days, the 21st biggest producer in the world, its output having been depressed under the Chavez and then Maduro regimes. 

Why should America care about Venezuelan oil?

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro did not address the oil tanker seizure at a rally before a ruling-party-organised demonstration in Caracas, but told supporters that Venezuela is "prepared to break the teeth of the North American empire if necessary".

Flanked by senior officials, he said that only the ruling party can "guarantee peace, stability, and the harmonious development of Venezuela, South America and the Caribbean".

In a later statement, the Venezuelan government accused the US of "blatant theft" and described the seizure as "an act of international piracy".

It said it would "defend its sovereignty, natural resources, and national dignity with absolute determination," and said it would denounce the seizure of the tanker before international bodies.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X that the ship was "used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran".

"For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations," she added.

She did not name the vessel, what flag the vessel sailed under, or exactly where the incident took place.

But UK maritime risk management group Vanguard said that the seized tanker is called Skipper, which the US sanctioned for alleged involvement in Iranian oil trading under the name Adisa.

The ship left Venezuela's main oil port of Jose between 4 and 5 December after loading about 1.1 million barrels of oil, according to satellite info analysed by TankerTrackers.com and internal shipping data from Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

Guyana's maritime authority said Skipper was falsely flying Guyana's flag, adding that it plans to take action against its unauthorised use.

Lets revisit a major moment earlier this week, when the US seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.

Donald Trump confirmed the seizure to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas.

Using US forces to seize an oil tanker is highly unusual and marks the latest push by the Trump administration to mount pressure on Venezuela's government.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi shared a video of American troops executing a seizure warrant on the crude oil tanker.

The footage shows a helicopter hovering just a few feet above the ship as forces quickly descend on ropes.

Watch: Moment US seizes oil tanker

The troops dressed in camouflage uniforms can be seen storming across the deck, armed with large firearms, before pointing their weapons at a door and entering.

The video, likely recorded from another helicopter, also shows forces running upstairs to the bridge as others move throughout the superstructure of the ship.

Bondi confirmed that the FBI, Homeland Security, US Coast Guard, and Department of Defence were involved.

The US Coast Guard team included elite forces trained in high-risk boarding from the Maritime Security Response Teams, which specialises in maritime counterterrorism and counternarcotics, according to two US officials.

Active-duty US military soldiers were also involved in the seizure. Although they were not permitted to board the tanker as they were deployed on Title 10 (active duty) orders, they aided with overhead surveillance and helicopter transport, the officials said.

In the latest episode of the Trump100 podcast, our US correspondents Martha Kelner and James Matthews discuss the rising escalation between the US and Venezuela.

Kelner refers to Donald Trump's efforts to spark mass oil production off the coast of places like California.

"That kind of thing takes a heck of a lot of time and a heck of a lot of money," she said.

"The US produces a lot of oil and it has a lot of oil refineries, but the oil they produce here is a light type of oil.

"Venezuela has gallons and gallons of heavy oil. A cynic might say the deposing Maduro and installing a much more Trump-friendly face like Machado to run Venezuela possibly could lead to the US profiting from the most oil-rich country in the world."

Listen to the latest episode below.

The US military dwarfs Venezuela's, which is held back by a lack of training, low wages and deteriorating equipment, according to Reuters news agency, which cites six sources.

While Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, has loyalty in the military after placing officers in government roles, soldiers earn just $100 a month in local currency. 

That's about a fifth of what studies say an average family needs to meet its basic needs.

Sources have said desertions, which already happen in many units, could rise in the event of a US military attack.

In recent years, the main experience of Venezuelan troops has been confronting unarmed civilians during street protests.

And the military's equipment - much of it Russian-made and decades-old - is lacking. 

Caracas bought around 20 Sukhoi fighter jets in the 2000s, but they're considered to be little match in comparison to US B-2s.

Venezuela's Russian-made helicopters, tanks and shoulder-fired missiles are also outdated.

The South American country borders Colombia, Brazil and Guyana, with a long coastline giving it access to the Caribbean and the Atlantic.

Its capital, Caracas, is in the centre of that coastline.

Here's a further map showing where the country's military bases are as well...

During our coverage of US aggression towards Venezuela, you'll hear the term narco-terrorism a lot.

Washington claims that the boats it has been targeting in the Pacific and Caribbean Sea are smuggling in drugs.

More than 80 people have been killed in such attacks.

The alleged threat of drugs to the US and its people has been a frequent theme of Trump's second administration.

So how does the US define narco-terrorism?

According to the US Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programmes, narco-terrorism as:

"The involvement of terrorist organisations and insurgent groups in drug trafficking, [it] has become a problem with international implications."

Three of Nicolas Maduro's nephews have been added to the US Treasury's sanctions list.

Efrain Campo Flores and his cousins Fransciso Flores de Freitas and Carlos Malpica Flores are related to the Venezuelan president through his wife, Celia Flores.

Franqui Flores and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, nephews of Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores, were also hit with sanctions.

They were dubbed the "narco nephews" after their arrest in Haiti in 2015 in a sting operation from the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

The US Treasury also sanctioned six ships transporting Venezuelan oil.

Donald Trump's latest threat to begin strikes on drug shipments making their way from Venezuela to the US came when he was speaking to reporters at the White House last night.

The US president said his country would soon start strikes on the shipments making their way via land routes.

"They've treated us badly and I guess now we're not treating them so good," he said.

"If you look at the drug traffic, drug traffic by sea is down 92% and nobody can figure out who the 8% is, because I have no idea.

"Anybody getting involved in that right now is not doing well. And we'll sort that out on land, too. It's going to be starting on land pretty soon."