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Mafia Increases Activities
Both of these current news items about criminal U.S. behavior trigger the question “What are you going to do about it?”
RT.com
US military breached UN maritime convention – Russia
The Russian Transport Ministry has confirmed that the oil tanker ‘Marinera’ has been captured by the US military.
Earlier on Wednesday, the US European Command announced having taken possession of the ship, previously named the ‘Bella 1’, for alleged “violation of US sanctions.”
The tanker was boarded by US military personnel “in the high seas outside the territorial waters of any state,” and that “contact with the vessel was lost,” the Russian Transport Ministry has said.
“On December 24, 2025, the Marinera received a temporary permit to fly the Russian flag, issued in accordance with Russian and international law,” the ministry stated, adding that the attack on the vessel came in violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which ensures freedom of navigation in international waters.
AP:
Trump’s Energy Department outlines new policies for Venezuelan oil
The Trump administration is “selectively” removing sanctions to enable the shipping and sale of Venezuelan oil to markets worldwide, according to an outline of the policies published Wednesday by the Energy Department.
The oil sales are slated to begin immediately with the sale of 30 million to 50 million barrels from the South American country, and “will continue indefinitely,” the outline says.
Proceeds will settle in U.S. controlled accounts at “globally recognized banks” and then be disbursed to the U.S. and Venezuelan populations at the “discretion” of the Trump administration, it says.
If I were in Russia’s position I would look for valuable U.S. assets, at sea or elsewhere, to seize and hold hostage.
I do not know enough of Venezuela’s alliances and capabilities, but I not do see any other way out for it but to fight the pirates by all possible means.
Please comment with suggestions of other serious means of response.
You all still don’t get it? I tried a couple days ago to explain it, even quoted some analysts from the Atlantic Council.
The “shadow fleet” isn’t just Russia. It’s a network of ships changing flags & “owners” all the time and it’s operated by Russia, Venezuela and Iran at the same time:
– “This illegal trade network delivers oil primarily to China, and to a lesser extent Cuba, employing several tactics to disguise the origin, name, and shipping routes to evade US regulations.”
– “The shadow fleet used by Venezuela, Iran, and Russia is a network, and to affect Venezuela, the United States needs to address the entirety of the fleet and its operators.”
– “Russia today relies on a sprawling shadow fleet—aging tankers, opaque ownership structures, flag-hopping, ship-to-ship transfers, and weak or fictitious insurance—to keep oil flowing despite Western restrictions.”
– “This matters because Russia’s shadow fleet is not isolated. Many of the same vessels, intermediaries, insurers, and ship-management networks service Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan crude interchangeably. Pressure applied in one region exposes vulnerabilities across the entire system. Even limited interdictions force tankers to go dark longer, take riskier routes, rely on fewer ports, and accept higher freight and insurance costs—raising the overall cost of Russian oil exports.”
– “For Moscow, the immediate risk is not a sudden collapse in exports but growing friction and uncertainty. Each escalation increases the probability of seizures, port refusals, or secondary sanctions on service providers—factors that reduce the efficiency and scalability of Russia’s energy revenues over time.”
– “There is also a deterrent effect. By demonstrating that shadow fleets are visible, traceable, and vulnerable, the United States raises the strategic risk premium for Russia’s oil trade—even if enforcement remains selective.”
– “This dynamic is being reinforced in Washington on the policy front. A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced the Decreasing Russian Oil Profits (DROP) Act of 2025, which would authorize financial sanctions on foreign buyers of Russian petroleum products and seek to choke off a key source of Kremlin revenue. The proposal includes targeted measures to penalize entities anywhere in the world that continue to purchase Russian oil, with narrow exemptions tied to support for Ukraine, underscoring Congress’s intent to close loopholes in the sanctions regime and further isolate Moscow’s energy exports.”
– “Notably, the potential deluge of Venezuelan crude into a saturated market may create new opportunities for actions against Russia’s oil sector, which is struggling in the wake of sanctions imposed on two of Russia’s largest energy firms, OJSC Rosneft and PJSC Lukoil. All entities owned 50 percent or more, directly or indirectly, by the sanctioned companies are also considered to be blocked, including a sprawling global network of international subsidiaries and assets.”
– “In Iran – as in Venezuela – the Trump Administration has backed up strong sanctions pressure with the use of military force. The Trump Administration reimposed “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran in early 2025, targeting a shadow fleet responsible for shipping Iranian oil, as well as numerous facilitators and Chinese teapot refineries.”
– “Although Iran’s economy has weathered years of U.S. sanctions, its currency is currently in freefall despite ongoing exports of crude oil (mostly to China). In the year ahead, the U.S. will continue to tighten the screws on the shadow fleet of tankers and facilitators that enable that trade, including dark fleet crude carriers previously engaged in Venezuela.”
– “New measures by the UK directly hit Russia’s largest remaining unsanctioned oil companies, PJSC Tatneft, PJSC Russneft, LCC NNK-Oil, and LLC Rusneftegaz Group. Together these companies bring in a combined revenue of over $20 billion and have been responsible for an increasing share of Russia’s oil exports, now approaching 10% over the last six months”
And it seems to be working:
“The Russian Finance Ministry said that revenues from oil and gas will fall in both the medium-term and the long-term. According to the Russian Finance Ministry’s calculations, this year’s share of oil and gas revenues to the budget, which several years ago stood at 50%, will drop to 23%, and in the coming years will continue to fall.”
Again, Trump is not a peace-making negotiator – he is the showman diverting your attention while the machine is stomping on in the background.
Posted by: Zet | Jan 7 2026 21:05 utc | 249
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