Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro warned that his country must “stand like warriors … ready to smash the teeth of the North American empire” Wednesday, a moment that coincided with the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.

The M/T Skipper seized by U.S. Coast Guard, was a sanctioned crude-oil tanker previously identified as part of an oil shipping network supporting Lebanese group Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, both U.S.-designated terrorist organizations.

Maduro has survived predictions and ridicule, but along the way, Venezuela lost millions of inhabitants, 72% of its economy, democratic legitimacy in the eyes of much of the world, and many of its most important international allies.

With the economy in ruins, and U.S. military forces off the coast, uncertainty and rumors mark life in Venezuela, dampening the yuletide mood.

Analysts tell Fox News Digital the next phase of Venezuela’s crisis hinges on Trump’s National Security Strategy and whether Washington pushes Maduro toward negotiation.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Friday that she is focused on an orderly transition of power in her country should President Nicolás Maduro leave power and that she is confident Venezuela’s police and armed forces would not oppose such a transition.

The U.S. hits the regime in the pocketbook, and let’s hope there’s more.