President Trump on Tuesday designated the Venezuelan government a “terrorist organization” and ordered a “complete and total” blockade of sanctioned oil tankers moving in and out of the country.
The moves are the strongest measures Mr. Trump has taken to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to leave his country.
The Trump administration has said Mr. Maduro is a drug lord who is helping funnel illicit narcotics into the U.S., a claim he has repeatedly denied.
Venezuela produces about 1 million barrels a day. By blocking the oil tankers coming into and out of the country, Mr. Trump is choking off the lifeblood of its economy.
Mr. Trump said his administration is labeling Mr. Maduro’s regime as a foreign terrorist organization for “the theft of our assets, and many other reasons, including terrorism, drug smuggling and human trafficking.”
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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 they previously stole from us.”
Designating the Venezuelan government a “foreign terrorist organization” makes it illegal for any U.S. citizen to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to such an organization.
Hours before Mr. Trump’s announcement Tuesday evening, Mr. Maduro praised Venezuela on state television for having “proven to be a strong country” against U.S. pressure.
“Venezuela has 25 weeks denouncing, confronting and defeating a campaign of multidimensional aggression, ranging from psychological terrorism to the piracy of the corsairs who assaulted the oil tanker,” he said.
Mr. Maduro added, “we have taken the oath to defend our homeland, and that on this soil peace and shared happiness triumph.”
Mr. Trump’s announcement comes one week after the U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
The administration says the boat was being used to transport oil from Venezuela to Iran, two countries whose oil industries have been sanctioned by the U.S. Mr. Trump said the U.S. will keep the oil.
Venezuela’s government has condemned the seizure as “blatant theft and an act of international piracy.”
The Trump administration has been steadily building up a military presence in the region, raising concerns about whether the president intends to engage in a military conflict with Venezuela.
Since September, the U.S. has carried out more than 20 strikes against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the waters near Venezuela and Colombia, killing more than 80 people.
The U.S. has also deployed the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, increasing the number of U.S. military forces in the region to a level not seen in decades.
In addition, Mr. Trump has dispatched 11 warships, scores of airplanes and thousands of troops to the region.
U.S. fighter jets buzzed the Venezuelan coastline last week, the closest the military has come to breaching the nation’s territory.
Venezuela is home to the world’s largest petroleum reserves, but its oil industry has been crippled by steep U.S. sanctions imposed by Mr. Trump and former President Biden, who cited human rights violations and fraud in Venezuela’s last two elections.
In addition to the military buildup and seized oil tanker, Mr. Trump has also sanctioned six ships his administration says are carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela.
Venezuela has sought to export its oil despite the U.S. Sanctions by transporting it to nations like Iran and Cuba and turning to a “shadow fleet” of oil tankers with sketchy registrations and using technology to hide their locations.
The Trump administration has also sanctioned three of Mr. Maduro’s nephews, two of whom have been accused of drug trafficking and a third has worked for the country’s state oil company.
Mr. Trump has also repeatedly suggested that he may order strikes on land-based drug targets in Venezuela and other countries, which would mark a significant escalation.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in a Vanity Fair interview published Tuesday that Mr. Trump “wants to keep on blowing up boats until Maduro cries uncle.”
