Trump ramps up pressure on Venezuela with ‘total’ blockade of sanctioned tankers

Donald Trump has ordered “a total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro.

- Coral Murphy Marcos

The move comes amid an escalating campaign by the Trump administration against Maduro that has included an augmented military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have Killed dozens of people.

Last week, US forces seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast that was travelling across the Caribbean. The tanker was thought to be loaded with about 2m barrels of Venezuela’s heavy crude, according to the New York Times. The Venezuelan government accused the US of “blatant theft” and described the seizure as “an act of international piracy”, further heightening tensions between the two countries.

In a post on social media on Tuesday night announcing the blockade, Trump alleged Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes and vowed to escalate the military buildup.

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social. “It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before ... today, lam ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela.”