US President Donald Trump announced the introduction of a "complete and total" blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela's ports.
He wrote about this on his social network Truth Social.
According to the head of the White House, Venezuela is allegedly "completely surrounded by the largest armada", which will only continue to grow stronger until the country "returns to the United States the oil, land and other assets that were previously stolen from them".
Trump called the regime of Nicolas Maduro illegitimate and accused him of using oil revenues for narco-terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping. In this regard, the US President recognized the Venezuelan leadership as a foreign terrorist organization and announced a complete blockade of sanctioned tankers.
"America will not allow criminals, terrorists or other countries to rob, threaten or harm our nation, nor will it allow hostile regimes to take our oil, land or any other assets, which must be immediately returned to the United States," Trump stressed.
What is known about the confrontation between the United States and Venezuela
Relations between the United States and Venezuela have sharply deteriorated since Donald Trump returned to the White House. Washington does not recognize Nicolas Maduro as the legitimate president, calls his regime authoritarian and links him to drug trafficking, corruption and human rights violations. The United States has imposed tough sanctions, primarily against the oil sector - the country's main source of income.
The Trump administration has also increased its military presence in the Caribbean, attacks ships it considers involved in drug smuggling, and threatens blockades and strikes. At the same time, the US is avoiding full-scale military intervention for now, limiting itself to pressure and a show of force.
Meanwhile, Trump has closed the airspace over the country of dictator Maduro.
He also announced that the US military will begin ground strikes on drug trafficking targets throughout Latin America.
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