PDB Afternoon Bulletin | December 18th, 2025: Venezuela Sends Warships to Challenge U.S. Naval Blockade & Colombia Cartel Labeled Terrorists
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It's Thursday, the 18th of December. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, tensions are climbing in the Caribbean as Venezuela orders its Navy to escort oil tankers in response to the U.S. naval blockade, raising the risk, of course, of a direct showdown with American warships. Later in the show, the US designates Colombia's Clan de Golfo Cartel as a terrorist organization, a move that could open the door to expanded military action against the group. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. As we covered yesterday here on the PDB, President Trump announced a naval blockade targeting US-sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers.
It's a move designed to cut off a major source of revenue, of course, for the Maduro regime. Now today, well, we're seeing Caracas respond. President Nicolas Maduro has ordered Venezuelan naval vessels to escort oil tankers as they leave Venezuelan ports and move through surrounding waters.
On its face, well, that sounds like a direct challenge to the U.S. blockade, and it's certainly meant to look that way. But here's the key detail that matters right now. None of the tankers being escorted so far are on the U.S. sanctions list.
That distinction is important because, at least for the moment, this move remains largely symbolic. Maduro is signaling defiance without actually crossing the line that would force a U.S. response. He's climbing the escalation ladder, so to speak, but he hasn't reached the rung where things could get ugly, primarily for him. Still, this move matters because once you introduce naval escorts, of course, you change the character of the situation. What had been a sanctions enforcement operation now includes state military forces operating in close proximity. And that's, of course, where the risk starts to creep in. Think of it this way, an unescorted tanker can be stopped, boarded, or diverted with relatively little drama, just like we saw last week with the seizure of the Skipper.
A tanker escorted by armed naval vessels, well, that's a different equation. If Venezuelan warships continue escorting non-sanctioned tankers, well, the U.S. can largely just observe and shadow and document, sending a message without triggering a confrontation, and that keeps things basically contained. But if Caracas decides to up the ante, if a sanctioned tanker leaves port under armed Venezuelan escort, well, we've got a new ballgame. At that point, U.S. forces obviously face a hard choice. Do they enforce the blockade and risk a direct naval confrontation, or do they allow a sanctioned vessel to pass, undermining the credibility of the entire operation? It's not a theoretical problem, of course.
It's a scenario that commanders obviously think through long before ships ever meet at sea. Now, from Maduro's perspective, this move makes sense politically. He gets to portray the blockade as foreign aggression. He gets to show strength to his domestic audience, and he gets headlines that suggest he's standing up to Washington. In other words, he's trying to extract maximum political value while minimizing risk. So, you ask, what happens next?
What actions has Venezuela taken in response to the U.S. naval blockade?
Well, I'm glad you asked. No surprise, that part isn't entirely clear. But new reporting gives us a better sense of how Washington is thinking about this. According to current and former Navy officials, US warships in the Caribbean have already been shadowing sanctioned oil tankers in international waters as they approach Venezuela. The idea is deterrence. Make it clear those ships are being watched, apply pressure, and ideally, convince their captains to turn around before anything escalates.
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