Trump orders total blockade of sanctioned oil tankers to and from Venezuela

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has ordered a total blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela, escalating a months-long pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

"Today, I am ordering a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into, and out of, Venezuela," Trump said in a post on his social media Truth Social.

Trump also said that the Venezuelan government has been designated "a foreign terrorist organization," accusing it of involvement in crimes including terrorism, drug smuggling and human trafficking.

Claiming that the United States "will not allow a hostile regime to take our oil, land, or any other assets," he demanded that Venezuela return to the United States all assets he said "that they previously stole from us."

Trump also claimed that Venezuela is "completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America," warning that the pressure would continue until the assets he said had been taken are returned to the United States.

Last week, the Trump administration seized an oil tanker near the Venezuelan coast and announced new sanctions on three nephews of Maduro's wife, a Maduro-affiliated businessman, and six companies involved in shipping oil from the country.

Since early September, US forces have sunk at least 25 alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing at least 95 people aboard.

For almost four months, the United States has maintained a significant military presence in the Caribbean, much of it off Venezuela's coast, purportedly to combat drug trafficking -- a claim Venezuela has denounced as a thinly veiled attempt to enforce regime change in Caracas.

In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly said that the US military would begin land strikes targeting drug traffickers in the Caribbean "very soon," further escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela.

Critics, including multiple lawmakers at the US Capitol, have questioned whether counternarcotics are indeed the only US motive and the legality of the US military strikes in the Caribbean.

Some 48 percent of US adults say they oppose the US military strikes targeting alleged drug boats in the Caribbean near Venezuela without first getting court approval, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.