Trump Orders Total Blockade of Sanctioned Venezuelan Oil Tankers. Former President Donald Trump has announced “a total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, intensifying pressure on the country’s leader Nicolás Maduro.
The move is part of a broader Trump administration campaign against Maduro, which has included a heightened military presence in the region and over two dozen strikes on vessels in the Pacific and Caribbean near Venezuela, resulting in dozens of deaths.
Last week, US forces seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast reportedly carrying about 2 million barrels of the country’s heavy crude. Venezuela condemned the seizure as “blatant theft” and “an act of international piracy,” escalating tensions.
Announcing the blockade on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump accused Venezuela of using oil revenues to fund drug trafficking and other criminal activity. He added:
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before … today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela.”
Trump Orders Total Blockade of Sanctioned Venezuelan Oil Tankers
Details on how the blockade will be enforced remain unclear, including whether the Coast Guard will be used to interdict vessels as in last week’s seizure. The administration has recently deployed thousands of troops and nearly a dozen warships, including an aircraft carrier, to the region.
Maduro, speaking before Trump’s announcement, denounced the US as seeking to “colonize Venezuela to take over its wealth of oil, gas, gold, among other minerals” and vowed to defend the country, stating, “In Venezuela, peace will triumph.” Venezuela’s government described the blockade as a “grotesque threat,” accusing the US of attempting to steal national resources.
Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro called the blockade “unquestionably an act of war” on social media, criticizing it as unauthorized by Congress and opposed by the American public.
Oil markets reacted to the announcement, with prices rising amid concerns over reduced Venezuelan exports, although uncertainty remains over the blockade’s enforcement and whether it will affect non-sanctioned vessels.
Venezuelan crude shipments have already fallen sharply following the recent tanker seizure and a cyberattack that disrupted the administrative systems of PDVSA, the state-run oil company. Many loaded vessels are remaining in Venezuelan waters rather than risk seizure.
Source: theguardian.com
