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U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a "total and complete blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela on Wednesday, labeling the Maduro government a "foreign terrorist organization" in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on the South American country's main source of income.
"For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"Therefore, today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela," he added.
Trump said the blockade would remain in place until Venezuela returned "all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us," in an apparent reference to the nationalization of U.S. assets in previous decades.
Trump claimed 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," Trump wrote.
The Trump administration has moved thousands of troops and nearly a dozen warships, including an aircraft carrier, to the region. The U.S. has already carried out 22 known strikes on alleged "narco-terrorist" seaborne vessels, killing 87 people since attacks began in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean in early September.
Trump has also said that U.S. land strikes on Venezuelan soil will soon start. "We knocked out 96% of the drugs coming in by water, and now we’re starting by land, and by land is a lot easier, and that’s going to start happening," he told reporters on Dec. 13 in the Oval Office.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez accused Trump of issuing "reckless and serious threats" that infringe upon the principles of free trade and freedom of navigation.
Venezuela called the move "grotesque," accusing Trump of attempting to seize the nation's natural resources.
"Trump assumes that Venezuela's oil, land, and mineral wealth are his property," the government statement noted.
Caracas has countered that Washington is seeking to "appropriate Venezuela's vast oil reserves through the lethal use of military force," suggesting anti-drug efforts are merely the groundwork for an attempt to unlawfully remove President Nicolas Maduro from power.
Oil prices rose more than 1% in Asian trade on Wednesday following Trump's announcement. Brent crude futures were up 70 cents, or 1.2%, at $59.62 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 73 cents, or 1.3%, to $56 a barrel.
Since the U.S. imposed energy sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, traders and refiners buying Venezuelan oil have resorted to a "shadow fleet" of tankers that disguise their location. As of last week, more than 30 of the 80 ships in Venezuelan waters or approaching the country were under U.S. sanctions, according to TankerTrackers.com.
U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat, called the blockade "unquestionably an act of war."
"A war that the Congress never authorized and the American people do not want," Castro added on X.
The announcement follows the U.S. seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast on Dec. 10, which Caracas branded "international piracy."
Since the seizure, Venezuelan crude exports have fallen sharply, with loaded vessels carrying millions of barrels of oil staying in Venezuelan waters rather than risk seizure.
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