Can An Oil Quarantine Work Against Venezuela?

There is a tanker that the U.S. Coast Guard has been following and wants to board. The problem is that if a ship refuses then the U.S. actually does not have a lot of team trained to do it. So for now they're just following it and waiting for the team.

That immediately raises the question of how effective a quarantine can be if the ships know they can keep going. If there are enough out there then they can't board them all. On the other hand, will ship captains want to keep taking the risk? Perhaps that's just a matter of money.

It also raises the questions of what happens when either mistakes and unplanned escalation bring in another country, even China. I don't think this necessarily leads to war but it can certainly weaken the U.S. position and require concessions.

Lastly, every ship that's boarded carries the risk of a U.S. soldier dying. U.S. policy toward Venezuela is already not terribly popular. Right now, I think most Americans don't perceive a problem with activities that don't involve U.S. soldiers in direct combat. Once they are involved and become casualties then everything will change.