Washington D.C. – U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday the imposition of a comprehensive naval blockade on “sanctioned oil tankers” departing from or destined for Venezuela. In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump stated he has also decided to designate the Venezuelan regime as a foreign terrorist organization, further escalating pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.
The announcement comes amidst already heightened tensions between the two nations. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko told Newsmax that the United States risks repeating a Vietnam scenario by using military force against Venezuela.
Trump further elaborated that the massive U.S. naval fleet deployed in the Caribbean, which he claims completely surrounds Venezuela and represents the largest naval force assembled in South American history, will “increase in size” until Venezuela returns “to the United States of America all the oil, land, and other assets it previously stole from us.”
He accused the “illegitimate Maduro regime” of using oil from these allegedly stolen oil fields to fund itself, drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping. The U.S. President warned that “the shock Venezuela will receive will be unprecedented until it returns the oil, land, and assets it stole from us.”
In response, the Venezuelan government on Wednesday condemned Trump’s announcement as “irrational” and a “heinous threat.” In a statement, the Venezuelan government asserted that “the President of the United States is irrationally attempting to impose a supposed naval military blockade on Venezuela with the aim of stealing the riches that belong to our nation.”
Trump’s latest declaration follows days after U.S. forces seized an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast. Caracas, in turn, denounced before the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday the “theft” of an oil tanker on December 10th. In a letter to Slovenian diplomat Samuel Žbogar, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, Caracas urged the Council to condemn what it described as an act of “state-sponsored piracy, the illegal use of military force against a private vessel, and the theft of a shipment resulting from international trade.”
DZWatch will continue to monitor this developing situation.
