Trump orders blockade of sanctioned oil tankers in and out of Venezuela

U.S. president's announcement escalates pressure on the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro

- Vera Bergengruen, Kejal Vyas, & Costas Paris

The extent of U.S. military involvement in implementing a blockade and number of tankers it will affect are unclear.

(REUTERS)

President Trump on Tuesday ordered a "total and complete blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in a major escalation of his pressure campaign against the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro.

"Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America," Trump posted on Truth Social, referring to U.S. warships, planes and thousands of troops deployed to the region.

He threatened the U.S. military presence would "only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before" unless Maduro's regime returned "Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us," an apparent reference to Venezuela's nationalization of U.S.-linked holdings in the country. In recent weeks, Trump has threatened to carry out land strikes in Venezuela.

It was unclear how many tankers would be affected, and to what extent the U.S. military would be involved in implementing such a blockade. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The announcement comes days after the U.S. seized a tanker full of Venezuelan crude, and the White House indicated there would be more ship seizures. The threat has left tankers stuck off the coast of Venezuela, with shipping data showing some vessels making U-turns rather than risk being interdicted.

Venezuela's government, which in recent years has used Iranand Russia-linked tankers to evade U.S. sanctions that bar the trading of Venezuelan crude, slammed last week's seizure as blatant theft and Tuesday's blockade order.