The US continues to escalate its anti-Venezuela measures this week, having announced Monday night that sanctions have grown to an economic embargo, and now that appears to include a naval blockade.



Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez announced on Wednesday that the United States had seized a cargo ship bound for Venezuela in the Panama Canal. The ship was carrying soy cakes for the production of food.



US officials as yet have not commented, but it’s not clear under what pretext they consider themselves allowed to seize a ship carrying food. The Panama Canal is no longer US territory in the first place, and seizing a food ship bound for Venezuela after spending most of 2019 claiming Venezuelans are starving and in need of food aid seems particularly spiteful.



Vice President Rodriguez condemned the move as “serious aggression,” and accused the Trump Administration of trying to impede Venezuela’s right to food.



Venezuela’s Ambassador to the UN also raised the issue, saying the Security Council needs to prevent US violations. Since the US has veto power at the Security Council, that’s clearly not going to happen, though it will hopefully bring more attention to the matter.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz