Washington, DC [US], December 17 (ANI): US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) announced a 'total and complete blockade' of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, sharply escalating pressure on the government of Nicolas Maduro.

In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump said Venezuela has been designated a 'foreign terrorist organisation' and accused the Maduro government of using oil revenues to fund 'drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping.'

In capital letters, he wrote, 'Therefore, today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela. The Illegal Aliens and Criminals that the Maduro Regime has sent into the United States during the weak and inept Biden Administration are being returned to Venezuela at a rapid pace.'

Trump said Venezuela is now surrounded by what he called the largest naval armada ever assembled in South America, warning that pressure on Caracas would only intensify. He also linked the move to illegal immigration, saying people sent to the US by the Maduro government during the previous administration were being returned to Venezuela 'at a rapid pace'.

He said the situation would remain in place until what he described as stolen US assets, including oil, land and other resources, are returned.

The blockade announcement comes alongside Trump's repeated threats of possible land strikes on Venezuelan soil. It marks a further tightening of Washington's stance against Caracas by targeting its main economic lifeline, oil exports.

Venezuela's oil sector has already been under heavy strain following fresh US sanctions earlier this year and the recent seizure of a tanker carrying Venezuelan crude. Oil remains central to Trump's Venezuela policy, with the president repeatedly saying the US should regain access to the country's energy resources if Maduro is removed from power, CNN reported.

The country's petroleum industry is controlled by state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). US energy major Chevron is currently the only American firm operating in Venezuela, drilling under a sanctions exemption that allows limited activity. Under that arrangement, Chevron pays a share of its output to PDVSA.

US companies once had a much larger presence in Venezuela's oil fields before the sector was nationalised in the 1970s. Trump has openly said he wants the US to return to Venezuela's oil industry. Although Venezuela holds the world's largest proven oil reserves, production remains far below capacity due to sanctions and years of underinvestment. Much of its oil exports are currently routed to China.

The US has imposed sanctions on Venezuela since 2005. In 2019, during Trump's first term, Washington effectively blocked PDVSA from exporting crude to the US. Former president Joe Biden later granted Chevron a licence in 2022 to operate in Venezuela as part of efforts to ease global fuel prices. Trump revoked that licence in March, then reissued it with strict conditions that barred any proceeds from reaching the Maduro government, as per CNN.

In recent months, the Trump administration has also launched strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean, with the president repeatedly threatening Venezuela with a possible strike. (ANI)