US Imposes Blockade on Venezuelan Oil Tankers Amid Escalating Tensions

Washington D.C.:US President Donald Trump has ordered a ‘total and complete blockade’ of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, targeting the country's main source of income. This move is part of Washington's latest effort to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government, which Trump has designated a ‘foreign terrorist organization’.

“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. The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

His post further read: “The Venezuelan Regime has been designated a foreign terrorist organisation. I am ordering a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela. The illegal aliens and criminals that the Maduro Regime has sent into the United States during the weak and inept Biden administration are being returned to Venezuela at a rapid pace.”

The move has sparked concerns about potential oil supply disruptions and escalating tensions between the US and Venezuela. The blockade is expected to disrupt Venezuela's oil exports, potentially lifting crude prices.

The US has already seized an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast, and several other tankers have made U-turns to avoid US sanctions. The US military has also moved thousands of troops and nearly a dozen warships, including an aircraft carrier, to the region.