Sanctioned Piracy: Why the U.S. Seized a Venezuelan Oil Tanker

Описание: Sanctioned Piracy: Why the U.S. Seized a Venezuelan Oil Tanker
In this episode of The Thorne Files, we examine the recent U.S. seizure of an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude and ask a question most coverage avoids: when a state uses its own domestic courts to authorize the seizure of another country’s sovereign resources on the open sea, what do we actually call that?
This isn’t an argument in defense of Venezuela’s government, nor a blanket rejection of sanctions. It’s a forensic look at how power operates beneath legal language—how control over shipping, insurance, finance, and enforcement quietly replaces international law with unilateral authority. We trace Venezuela’s resource history, explain why oil infrastructure matters more than oil itself, and show how sanctions enforcement is shifting from financial pressure to physical seizure.
Drawing historical parallels to privateers and letters of marque, this episode argues that modern enforcement mechanisms increasingly resemble legalized piracy—lawful at home, coercive abroad. The question isn’t whether the seizure was approved by a court. It’s whose court, whose law, and whose rules govern the global commons.
This is about energy dominance, dollar power, and what happens when legality follows leverage instead of consent.
Welcome to The Thorne Files—where we follow the threads that connect law, logistics, and the quiet machinery of power.