Trump Orders Blockade of ‘Sanctioned’ Venezuela Oil Tankers

Washington: US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he would impose a naval blockade of “sanctioned oil ships” heading to and from Venezuela, sharply escalating his pressure campaign against Caracas.

The United States has been building a major military deployment in the Caribbean for months; It specifically targets Venezuela in an effort to combat drug trafficking.

Caracas sees the operation as a pressure campaign to oust leftist dictator Nicolas Maduro, who Washington and many countries view as an illegitimate president.

After weeks of military jet overflights off the coast of Venezuela and deadly attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats that killed nearly 90 people, the Trump administration intensified its campaign by recently seizing an oil tanker leaving the South American country.

He later announced that sanctions had been imposed on other ships.

“Today, I am ordering a COMPLETE AND COMPLETE blockage of ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS entering and exiting Venezuela,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Tuesday evening.

Trump also said that the massive US naval armada assembled in the Caribbean, which includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier, “will only grow” until Venezuela returns to the United States all the Oil, Land and other Assets they previously stole from us.

“The illegitimate Maduro Regime uses the Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to fund themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder and Kidnapping,” Trump said.

Although the United States already has sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, seizing its exports could potentially cripple its already struggling economy.