US President Donald Trump has ordered “a total and complete” naval blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuelan waters, a move Caracas condemned as “warmongering threats.” In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump also designated President Nicolás Maduro’s government as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), accusing it of drug smuggling, human trafficking, and financing terrorism through illicit oil sales. The escalation follows last week’s seizure of the oil tanker “Skipper” off Venezuela’s coast and increased US naval presence in the Caribbean, including the deployment of the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier.
The blockade targets over 30 of the approximately 80 vessels in or near Venezuelan waters that are currently under US sanctions, according to TankerTrackers.com. Additional sanctions have been imposed on ships carrying Venezuelan oil, as well as on Maduro’s relatives and businesses linked to his administration. Trump claimed Venezuela is “completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” warning it would “only get bigger.” Venezuela, which holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves but produces relatively little, depends heavily on oil exports for its struggling economy.
Venezuela’s government denounced the seizure of the “Skipper” as theft and accused Washington of attempting to plunder its resources. Meanwhile, US Congressman Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat, labeled the naval blockade “unquestionably an act of war” and announced a congressional vote on a resolution to direct the president to end hostilities. The US has steadily increased military pressure on Caracas, conducting deadly strikes on boats allegedly involved in drug smuggling—though public evidence linking them to narcotics has not been provided.
The Trump administration has long opposed Maduro’s rule, imposing sweeping sanctions and supporting efforts to remove him from power. The UN human rights chief recently warned of a tightening crackdown on civic freedoms in Venezuela. With the FTO designation now extended to the entire government—previously applied only to Maduro and the Cartel de los Soles—and a full-scale naval blockade underway, tensions between Washington and Caracas have reached their highest point in years, raising regional stability concerns and deepening Venezuela’s economic and diplomatic isolation.
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