Trump tweeted, “Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” in a long statement on social media. “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.”
What stolen land and oil Trump was alluding about was not immediately apparent. However, after Venezuela nationalized its oil reserves in 2007, the government of Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, seized assets from some US oil companies.
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.
In response to Trump’s statement, the Venezuelan government described it as a “reckless and serious threat,” citing violations of 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 government of Venezuela stated in a statement.
The United States currently possesses the most number of warships in the Caribbean in decades—11—but even this increased presence is probably insufficient to establish a blockade in the conventional sense, which entails fully closing off a nation’s coastline.
Last week, Reuters revealed that there were perhaps thirty sanctioned ships assisting in the transportation of Venezuelan oil. There are currently over a dozen sanctioned tankers in Venezuelan seas, according to Tanker Trackers.
The United States captured a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week. According to officials, the tanker was used to transfer oil between the South American nation and Iran and was part of an illegal oil transportation network that supported foreign terrorist groups. Cuba was the destination of the oil tanker.
Separately, since September, the U.S. Navy has carried out dozens of strikes against reportedly drug-carrying vessels; the Trump administration claims that these actions are intended to halt the flow of drugs into the country.
Trump’s remark on Tuesday night followed a Vanity Fair quote from White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles stating that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.”
In the Tuesday post, Trump called Maduro’s regime a “Hostile Regime.”
In an extraordinary action last month, Trump proclaimed Maduro to be the leader of a foreign terrorist organization, despite the U.S. long viewing him as the leader of a corrupt tyrannical state.
“The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping,” Trump said in a post on Tuesday.
“For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.”
