TRUMP SEIZES IRANIAN TANKER HEADED TO CUBA – RUBIO’S PLAYING 3D CHESS WITH MADURO’S OIL MONEY
The U.S. just grabbed the Skipper, a tanker carrying Venezuelan crude supposedly bound for Cuba.
Except it wasn’t going to Cuba at all.
Here’s the scheme: Venezuela “sends” oil to Cuba at subsidized prices. Cuba then resells most of it to China for hard currency.
Panamanian middleman Ramón Carretero manages the whole operation – until Trump sanctioned him Thursday.
The Skipper offloaded 50,000 barrels to another ship headed to Cuba, then sailed east to Asia with the rest. Classic shell game.
And before hauling Venezuelan oil? This tanker spent four years running Iran’s dark fleet to Syria and China.
Rubio’s strategy is simple: starve Cuba, and Maduro falls. During Trump’s first term, they almost toppled Maduro until Cuban security forces propped him up.
Now they’re cutting the cash pipeline that keeps both regimes breathing.
What’s next: Cuba’s economy is already on life support. Cut the oil money, and the island collapses – taking Venezuela’s security apparatus with it.
China hasn’t retaliated yet, which means either Bessent cut a deal, or Beijing’s saving their punch for later.
Either way, dominoes are falling.
Sources: Zero Hedge, New York Times