President Trump announced a major escalation in U.S. pressure on Venezuela, targeting the country’s oil trade and formally labeling its leadership as terrorists. In a Truth Social post Tuesday, President Trump said he had designated what he called “the Venezuelan Regime” as a foreign terrorist organization and ordered what he described as a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, according to Reuters.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the history of South America,” Trump wrote. “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 said the designation was based on what he described as the regime’s involvement in asset theft, terrorism, drug smuggling, and human trafficking. The announcement followed last week’s U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, part of a broader pressure campaign against the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Trump has long accused Maduro’s administration of facilitating narcotics trafficking into the United States.
Details of the blockade remain unclear. Trump did not specify which vessels would be considered sanctioned, and it is uncertain how many tankers could be affected, according to the New York Times.
Earlier Tuesday, Maduro accused what he called “imperialism and the fascist right” of attempting to dominate Venezuela and seize its oil, gas, gold, and other resources. He vowed to defend the country and predicted that “peace will triumph,” Reuters reported.
The Trump administration has said increased military activity in the Caribbean, including strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels, is aimed at stopping narcotics from reaching the U.S., according to the Associated Press. However, in an interview published Tuesday by Vanity Fair, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles suggested the effort is also intended to force political change in Venezuela, saying Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.”