INTERNATIONAL – Venezuela’s National Assembly has overwhelmingly passed a sweeping new law that would impose prison sentences of up to 20 years on anyone who promotes or finances what Caracas labels “piracy, blockades and other international illicit acts” against its commerce a move that comes amid escalating tensions with the United States and recent seizures of Venezuelan oil tankers by U.S. forces.
The legislation, formally known as the “Law to Guarantee Freedom of Navigation and Commerce Against Piracy, Blockades, and Other International Illicit Acts,” was passed unanimously by the ruling-party-controlled assembly in Caracas on Tuesday and will soon be sent to President Nicolás Maduro for final approval. Once signed and published in the official gazette, the law will take effect and make it a criminal offence to engage in or support acts that allegedly undermine Venezuela’s maritime trade, including interfering with oil shipments.
The timing of the law is widely seen as a direct response to U.S. moves in the Caribbean, where the U.S. Coast Guard seized a sanctioned supertanker carrying Venezuelan crude earlier this month and has sought to intercept additional vessels linked to Venezuela’s oil exports amid sweeping sanctions enforcement. These actions represent Washington’s most assertive maritime measures against Venezuela’s oil sector since sanctions began in 2019, aimed at curbing what U.S. officials describe as evasive “shadow fleet” operations.
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Venezuelan lawmakers and government loyalists argue the law is needed to protect the nation’s economy, sovereignty and vital energy exports. According to legislative discussions, the measure also calls for mechanisms to support businesses hurt by blockades or unlawful interference, and levies hefty fines in addition to lengthy prison terms for offenders. “This law seeks to protect the national economy and avoid the erosion of living standards for the population,” said lawmaker Giuseppe Alessandrello as the bill was read in the assembly.
Caracas has repeatedly denounced the U.S. seizures and naval actions as violations of international law, framing them as hostile aggression aimed at destabilizing the country and undermining its revenue from crude exports. The Venezuelan government has taken its objections to the United Nations Security Council, where representatives and allied diplomats have echoed claims that the U.S. actions amount to “piracy” and an infringement on Venezuela’s rights to conduct sovereign trade.
Washington, by contrast, has justified its operations as part of broader efforts to enforce sanctions and combat illicit shipping practices, presenting these interventions as legal measures designed to deprive the Maduro government and linked organizations of resources they allegedly use to sustain power and fund criminal networks.
The new Venezuelan law, therefore, not only increases penalties at home but also amplifies a diplomatic dispute over maritime conduct, sovereignty and the contested boundaries of international law — with implications for global energy markets and geopolitics as Washington and Caracas intensify their standoff over oil exports and sanctions enforcement.
