BBC:
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday what he called a “blockade” of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers, ratcheting up American pressure on the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on his social media platform. “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.”
It was not immediately clear what stolen oil and land Trump was referring to. However, under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan government expropriated assets from some American oil companies after the country nationalized oil fields in 2007.
In the post, Trump announced “A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela” and demanded the return of oil and assets.
The Venezuelan government responded to Trump’s post, calling his declaration a “reckless and serious threat,” against the country that it says violates international law, free trade and freedom of navigation.
“The President of the United States intends to impose in an absolutely irrational manner, a supposed naval military blockade on Venezuela with the objective of stealing the wealth that belongs to our homeland,” the Venezuelan government said in a statement.
The U.S. currently has 11 warships in the Caribbean — the most in decades — but even with a stepped-up presence, that would likely not be enough to put in place a blockade in the traditional sense, which involves sealing a country’s coastline completely.
