WASHINGTON, D.C., December 17 (ANI): U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a “total and complete blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, sharply escalating pressure on the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump said Venezuela has been designated a “foreign terrorist organization” and accused the Maduro government of using oil revenues to fund what he described as drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping. Writing in capital letters, Trump said he was ordering “a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into, and out of, Venezuela.”
Trump claimed Venezuela is now surrounded by what he called the largest naval armada ever assembled in South America, warning that pressure on Caracas would intensify further. He also linked the move to illegal immigration, saying individuals sent to the United States by the Maduro government during the previous administration were being returned to Venezuela “at a rapid pace.”
The president said the blockade would remain in place until what he described as stolen U.S. assets, including oil, land, and other resources, are returned.
The announcement comes alongside Trump’s repeated threats of possible land strikes on Venezuelan territory and marks a further tightening of Washington’s stance against Caracas by targeting the country’s main economic lifeline, oil exports.
Venezuela’s oil sector has already been under heavy strain following fresh U.S. sanctions earlier this year and the recent seizure of a tanker carrying Venezuelan crude. Oil remains central to Trump’s Venezuela policy, with the president repeatedly stating that the United States should regain access to the country’s energy resources if Maduro is removed from power, CNN reported.
Venezuela’s petroleum industry is controlled by state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela. U.S. energy major Chevron is currently the only American firm operating in the country, drilling under a sanctions exemption that allows limited activity. Under that arrangement, Chevron pays a share of its output to Petroleos de Venezuela.
U.S. companies once had a much larger presence in Venezuela’s oil fields before the sector was nationalized in the 1970s. Trump has openly said he wants the United States to return to Venezuela’s oil industry.
Although Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, production remains far below capacity due to sanctions and years of underinvestment. Much of its oil exports are currently routed to China.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuela since 2005. In 2019, during Trump’s first term, Washington effectively blocked Petroleos de Venezuela from exporting crude to the United States. Former president Joe Biden later granted Chevron a license in 2022 to operate in Venezuela as part of efforts to ease global fuel prices.
Trump revoked that license in March and later reissued it with strict conditions barring any proceeds from reaching the Maduro government, CNN reported. In recent months, the Trump administration has also launched strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean, with the president repeatedly threatening Venezuela with possible military action.
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