Former President Donald Trump has called for a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers from Venezuela, signaling a dramatic escalation in US pressure against the South American nation. This directive, announced via his Truth Social platform, directly targets the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom Trump accuses of financing illicit activities through oil revenues. The announcement intensifies an ongoing campaign that has seen a substantial buildup of US military assets, including naval vessels and personnel, near Venezuela’s coastline, alongside recent seizures of vessels suspected of carrying illicit cargo. The proposed blockade aims to further cripple Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy, which remains under extensive US sanctions.

Mr. Trump’s declaration on Tuesday evening underscored his administration’s long-standing aggressive posture towards Caracas, which included recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate interim president and imposing sweeping economic penalties. In his online statement, Mr. Trump asserted that Venezuela is “completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” warning of an unprecedented “shock” until the country returns “all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.” He further accused the Maduro government of leveraging oil to finance “drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping,” linking the regime’s actions to the flow of “Illegal Aliens and Criminals” into the United States.

The intensified rhetoric is backed by a robust military presence. The Trump administration previously deployed hundreds of American troops and ships near Venezuela’s coastline as part of an anti-drug trafficking operation. Last week, US forces executed an unusual seizure of an oil tanker off the country’s coast, a move that followed a significant buildup of military forces in the region. These naval operations, primarily in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, have been presented by the administration as crucial for intercepting illicit drug shipments bound for American shores, thereby defending national security interests.

However, the campaign has been accompanied by a series of deadly military strikes on vessels in international waters, which have drawn considerable scrutiny. Reports indicate these operations have resulted in at least 95 fatalities across 25 known interdictions on boats allegedly involved in drug trafficking. While the Trump administration has defended these actions as a success in preventing narcotics from reaching the US, these tactics have faced bipartisan criticism among US lawmakers, who question whether the operations are stretching the bounds of lawful warfare and adhering to international maritime law.

Concerns over the true objectives of the campaign were amplified by comments from former Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles. In a Vanity Fair interview published recently, Wiles appeared to confirm that the naval campaign was part of a broader push to oust President Maduro. She explicitly stated that Mr. Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle,” directly contradicting the administration’s public narrative that the operations were solely focused on drug interdiction. This revelation intensified questions regarding the political motivations behind the aggressive military posture.

Adding to the legal and ethical quandaries, the administration faced intense scrutiny over a specific strike on an alleged drug-carrying boat on September 2, which initially yielded two survivors. According to The Washington Post, citing officials with direct knowledge of the operation, the commander overseeing the mission allegedly ordered a second strike after the survivors emerged. This order was reportedly in response to alleged instructions from then-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “kill everybody” on the vessels. Law-of-war experts, speaking to The Independent, have since characterized these alleged actions as potential illegal extrajudicial killings, and in some cases, outright murders and war crimes.

The economic ramifications of a full blockade could be catastrophic for Venezuela. The South American nation’s economy is profoundly reliant on crude oil exports, which constitute approximately 88 percent of its $24 billion in annual export revenues. Experts warn that seizing oil tankers or enforcing a total blockade would devastate an already fragile economy grappling with hyperinflation, widespread shortages, and a severe humanitarian crisis, potentially exacerbating the suffering of its populace. The US Treasury Department has already imposed extensive sanctions targeting Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA, and other entities.

In a recent move amplifying the pressure, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, and a business executive reportedly close to the Venezuelan leader. Simultaneously, the department added six additional oil tankers to its list of sanctioned vessels. These tankers were accused of engaging in “deceptive and unsafe shipping practices” and continuing to provide financial resources that “fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime.” These targeted actions aim to further isolate the Maduro government and cut off its remaining financial lifelines.

Read Original

Keywords: Trump Venezuela, oil tanker blockade, Maduro regime sanctions, US Venezuela tensions, Venezuelan oil exports, drug trafficking campaign, extrajudicial killings allegations, Truth Social Trump statements