Venezuela on Tuesday condemned President Donald Trump’s order of a “total and complete blockade” of oil tankers going in and out of its ports as a “reckless threat” against the South American nation.
The government of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro said the United States was attempting to impose an “irrational military blockade” aimed at “stealing” the country’s wealth, according to a statement carried by state media outlet Agencia Venezolana de Noticias.
In a Truth Social post earlier on Tuesday, Trump had accused what he called the “illegitimate Maduro regime” of using oil revenues to finance terrorism, drug trafficking and other crimes, and said the measures justified a full blockade of sanctioned tankers.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before,” Trump said.
It was the latest escalation in already strained relations as Washington ramps up economic and military pressure on Maduro. Caracas said it would pursue a complaint through the United Nations.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
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