In an apparent attempt to tighten his grip on the South American nation’s economy and the President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro, US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he is directing an embargo of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into the nation.
Trump’s escalation follows the huge seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela by US forces last week, which coincided with an increase in military presence in the area. He alleged that Venezuela was using oil to finance drug trafficking and other crimes in a social media post announcing the blockade on Tuesday night. The US president also promised to keep up the military buildup until the nation surrendered the US oil, territory, and assets, though it was unclear why he believed his country has a claim to it.
“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 — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
All inquiries concerning the post were directed to the White House by Pentagon representatives.
In a statement on Tuesday, the government of Venezuela accused Trump of “violating international law, free trade, and the principle of free navigation” and of posing “a reckless and grave threat” to the country.
“On his social media, he assumes that Venezuela’s oil, land, and mineral wealth are his property. Consequently, he demands that Venezuela immediately hand over all its riches. The President of the United States intends to impose, in an utterly irrational manner, a supposed naval blockade on Venezuela with the aim of stealing the wealth that belongs to our nation,” the statement said.
The statement claimed that Maduro’s government intended to condemn the situation in front of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Several military attacks on boats in international waters in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have coincided with the US buildup. At least 95 people have died in 25 documented strikes on vessels because of Trump’s decision, which has prompted bipartisan criticism from US senators.
Trump has said for weeks that the US will begin land-based strikes as part of its campaign.
The Trump administration has rejected concerns that the strikes are going beyond the parameters of legitimate combat and justified them as a success, claiming that they have stopped drugs from entering American territory.
In a Vanity Fair interview published on Tuesday, Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles seemed to reveal that the campaign is part of an effort to remove Maduro, despite the Trump administration’s claims that it is about preventing drugs from entering the US.
Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle,” said Wiles.
The announcement on Tuesday night seems to have the same aim.
With the greatest proven oil reserves in the world and a daily production of over one million barrels, Venezuela’s economy has long been dependent on oil earnings.
Maduro’s government has been using a covert fleet of unflagged tankers to sneak crude into international supply networks since the Trump administration started enforcing oil sanctions on Venezuela in 2017.
US sanctions have prevented the state-owned oil corporation Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA, from accessing international oil markets. Most of its exports are sold on China’s black market at substantial discounts.
About 850,000 of the one million barrels produced every day are exported, according to Francisco Monaldi, a Venezuelan oil expert at Rice University in Houston. He claimed that 80 percent of that is sent to China, 15 percent to 17 percent is sent to the US via Chevron Corp., and the remaining portion is sent to Cuba.
To fend off growing pressure from the US, Maduro reportedly offered a share in Venezuela’s oil and other mineral wealth in recent months, which Trump seemed to confirm in October.
“He’s offered everything. You know why? Because he doesn’t want to f—- around with the United States,” said Trump during the time.
How the US intended to implement what Trump described as a “TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela” was not immediately clear.
However, the US Navy has 11 ships in the region, including several amphibious assault ships and an aircraft carrier.
These vessels are equipped with a variety of aircraft, including V-22 Ospreys and helicopters. A few P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft have also been flown by the Navy in the region.
When taken as a whole, those assets give the military a substantial capacity to monitor on marine traffic entering and leaving the nation.
It was unclear what Trump meant when he said in his post that the “Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.”
Historically, non-state entities without sovereign immunity granted by treaties or membership in the UN have been designated as foreign terrorist organisations.
The Cartel de los Soles was declared a foreign terrorist organisation by the Trump administration in November. Although it is not a cartel, the term “Cartel de los Soles” initially referred to Venezuelan military personnel engaged in drug trafficking.
“State sponsors of terrorism” refers to governments that the US administration attempt to sanction for funding, encouraging, or otherwise condoning extreme action. However, Venezuela doesn’t figure in the list.
The US has occasionally termed a component of a foreign government as “FTO.” The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian government that was previously listed as a state sponsor of terrorism, was used by the Trump administration in its first term.