WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday a blockade of “sanctioned oil vessels” heading to and leaving Venezuela, sharply escalating his pressure campaign against Caracas while issuing new demands for access to the country’s crude.
The United States has for months been building a major military deployment in the Caribbean — with the stated goal of combatting Latin American drug trafficking, but taking particular aim at Venezuela.
Caracas views the operation as a campaign to push out leftist strongman Nicolas Maduro — whom Washington and many nations view as an illegitimate president — and to “steal” Venezuelan oil.
Tensions have been mounting for weeks as Trump signals intent to launch military action inside Venezuela, ominously declaring that the country’s airspace should be considered “closed” and that efforts at halting drug trafficking “on land” would begin soon.
Last week, the United States opened a new front in the campaign, seizing an oil tanker that had left Venezuela and announcing sanctions on several other vessels and companies associated with the Venezuelan oil industry.
