By Rabia Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday a “total and complete blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela.
“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, saying the blockade would remain until Caracas returned “all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets.”
He accused the regime of Nicolas Maduro of using oil revenues to fund “drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping,” and said Venezuelan nationals previously sent to the US were being returned “at a rapid pace.”
The announcement comes amid mounting tensions between the two countries as Trump continues to demand Maduro step down from power, maintaining that all options, including military force, remain on the table amid a massive force buildup in the region.
The US 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.
Venezuela recently accused the US of “maritime piracy,” part of a “sustained policy of coercion and aggression” after Washington seized a Venezuelan oil shipment in international waters.
The US has justified the seizure, saying vessels are used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran in an "illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations."