Trump orders 'total and complete' naval blockade of Venezuela
by Darryl Coote · UPIDec. 16 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered "a total and complete blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers going to or from Venezuela, raising already high tensions between Washington and Caracas by targeting the South American nation's largest revenue source.
Trump has sought to oust Venezuela's authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro, since his first term and has ratcheted up the pressure on the socialist leader after returning to the White House in January.
He has accused Maduro of sending an invasion of criminals to the United States and of being the leader of a narcotics trafficking organization, allegations that U.S. intelligence agencies have not publicly supported.
An armada of U.S. naval vessels has been deployed to waters near Venezuela, and the U.S. military has launched deadly strikes on boats in the region that the Trump administration alleges are trafficking drugs to the United States, drawing domestic and international condemnation.
"Today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela," Trump announced in a statement on his Truth Social media platform.
"America will not allow Criminals, Terrorists or other Countries, to rob, threaten or harm our Nation, and, likewise, will not allow a Hostile Regime to take our Oil, Land or any other Assets, all of which must be returned to the United States IMMEDIATELY."
It was not immediately clear what U.S. land or assets Trump was referring to, though he has repeatedly stated that the United States has been wrongly denied access to Venezuela's oil reserves.
"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," Trump said.
Trump accused Maduro in the statement of using oil revenues to finance drug terrorism, human trafficking and murder.
Maduro rejected Trump's demands and invoked the United States history of intervening in South American countries. He called on citizens of the United States and elsewhere to oppose the Trump administration's actions, declaring that Venezuela will "never again be a colony of any empire or foreign power."
"The President of the United States intends to impose, in an absolutely irrational manner, a so-called blockade on Venezuela with the aim of stealing the wealth that belongs to our Homeland," Venezuela's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The announcement was swiftly supported by Republicans as a show of strength. Democrats, however, denounced the move as edging the United States toward an unjustified and legally shaky war.
"A naval blockade is unquestionably an act of war. A war that Congress never authorized and the American people do not want," Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, said in a statement.
The announcement of the blockade comes as questions of legality already swirl around the United States' military actions in the region.
The U.S. military has killed 95 people in 25 attacks on alleged drug trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, with eight people killed on Monday.
Trump administration critics and Democrats question the legality of using the military for what is ostensibly law enforcement. U.N. experts have described the attacks as extrajudicial killings. And Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has accused Trump of murdering a Colombian fisherman.
Bipartisan lawmakers in both the House and Senate are investigating the strikes, particularly a so-called double tap strike on Sept. 2, as potential violations of U.S. law and the laws of armed conflict.
The Trump administration has been defending the strikes as legal under U.S. and international law. It has argued that the United States is at war with drug cartels that the Trump administration has designated as terrorist organizations who are flooding the country with deadly substances.
Earlier Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a bipartisan classified briefing for U.S. lawmakers that left Democrats frustrated with their lack of transparency, despite the Trump administration claiming it is the most transparent in U.S. history.
Following the announcement, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said the blockade contradicts what they were told by Hegseth and Rubio about the U.S. military mission and goals in the Caribbean.
"This is a dangerous escalation, and this administration must come before Congress for public hearing and explain to the American people why they are risking pulling us into another forever war," he said, referring to the United States long entanglement in Afghanistan.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and Trump loyalist, said the president was "spot on" for imposing the blockade.
"If he's not a terrorist, I don't know who would be," he said.
"Finish him off."
Seemingly in response to the announcement, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for calmer heads to prevail.
"Our world faces a growing crisis of trust -- between nations, within societies & across communities. We need a renewed commitment to dialogue, diplomacy & the principles of the @UN Charter," he said on X.
"Let's recommit to the hard work of building peace & trust within & among nations."