The United States intensified its aggressive campaign against Venezuela on Tuesday, as former President Donald Trump declared a sweeping oil blockade and threatened Caracas with what he called an unprecedented “shock,” amplifying fears of a looming military confrontation in the Caribbean.
Trump announced via his platform Truth Social that he had ordered a “TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,” accusing President Nicolás Maduro of using oil revenues to finance drug trafficking and transnational criminal networks.
“The Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” Trump wrote, pledging to expand the US naval presence in the region. He warned Venezuela the military escalation will be a “shock to them like nothing they have ever seen before.”
The declaration followed the recent US Navy illegal seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker off the country’s coast—an extraordinary act that came amid a wider military buildup in the Caribbean. Washington claimed the action was aimed at curbing narcotics trafficking and enforcing economic sanctions. Caracas, however, condemned the seizure at the United Nations Security Council, calling it outright maritime piracy and demanding the crew's release.
Venezuelan officials denounced Trump’s announcement as an “irrational, grotesque threat,” describing it as an attempted maritime siege aimed at looting the country’s oil under the guise of counternarcotics operations.
President Maduro, who has governed since 2013, said the U.S. military deployment near Venezuelan waters is part of a calculated strategy to remove him from power. “This is about regime change and looting our oil,” he said. “And we will resist.”
Despite possessing the world’s largest proven oil reserves, Venezuela currently produces around 1 million barrels per day, constrained by US-imposed sanctions since 2019. The country has been pushed to sell oil at a discount on the black market, primarily to buyers in Asia, including China.
Since September, US military operations in the Caribbean and Pacific have escalated under the pretext of dismantling drug trafficking networks. The military has launched at least 21 strikes on various vessels, resulting in over 95 deaths.
The US has also staged aerial shows of force in recent weeks, with B-52 and B-1 bombers flying near Venezuelan airspace. In mid-November, the USS Gerald R. Ford—America’s largest aircraft carrier—arrived in the region.
Recently, Trump hinted at the possibility of imminent ground operations in Venezuela. “We’re going after the drug cartels and their state sponsors,” he declared, once again accusing Maduro, without evidence, of involvement in narcotics trafficking. Maduro rejected the claims, accusing Washington of fabricating a pretext for war.
