U.S. President Donald Trump has announced what he described as a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers, significantly escalating pressure on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, reports Baltimore Chronicle.
The announcement was made Tuesday through a lengthy post on Trump’s social media platform, where he claimed that Venezuela is “completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the history of South America.” Trump stated that the U.S. naval presence would continue to expand and insisted that the pressure would remain in place until Venezuela returns “all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets” he alleges were taken from the United States.
Trump did not clarify which specific assets he was referencing. However, during the presidency of Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s government nationalized oil fields in 2007, leading to the expropriation of assets belonging to several American oil companies operating in the country at the time.
In his statement, Trump formally declared “a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into, and out of, Venezuela,” reiterating demands for the return of oil and other assets. The move follows a series of actions by the U.S. aimed at intensifying economic and military pressure on Caracas.
The Venezuelan government reacted sharply, calling Trump’s declaration a “reckless and serious threat” that it said violates international law, free trade principles, and freedom of navigation. In an official statement, authorities in Caracas accused the U.S. president of attempting to impose an irrational naval military blockade with the aim of seizing Venezuela’s national wealth.
According to U.S. officials, the United States currently has 11 warships deployed in the Caribbean, marking the largest American naval presence in the region in decades. Military analysts note, however, that even with an expanded deployment, such a force would likely be insufficient to establish a traditional blockade, which would require sealing off Venezuela’s entire coastline.
Reuters reported last week that the network of sanctioned vessels involved in transporting Venezuelan oil includes around 30 ships. Data from Tanker Trackers indicates that more than a dozen sanctioned oil tankers are currently operating in Venezuelan waters.
The escalation follows the seizure last week of a sanctioned oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast. U.S. officials said the vessel was part of an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations and was being used to transport oil between Venezuela and Iran. The tanker was reportedly en route to Cuba at the time of the seizure.
Separately, since September, the U.S. military has carried out dozens of strikes against vessels allegedly involved in drug trafficking operations. The Trump administration has said these actions are intended to disrupt the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.
Trump’s latest remarks came after White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was quoted in Vanity Fair as saying the president wants to continue targeting vessels until Maduro’s government backs down. In his post, Trump again described Maduro’s administration as a “hostile regime” and accused it of using oil revenues to finance terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping.
Last month, Trump took the unprecedented step of designating President Nicolas Maduro as the leader of a foreign terrorist organization, further hardening the U.S. stance toward Venezuela’s government.
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