Trump orders total blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers and designates Maduro's regime as terrorist organization

President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a total blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, in what is one of the strongest measures taken by the United States against the regime of Nicolás Maduro. The decision is aimed directly at cutting off the Venezuelan regime's primary source of financing.

Trump claimed that the regime uses oil extracted from assets he argued were stolen from the United States to finance criminal activities, including drug trafficking, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping. According to the president, these energy resources are the economic backbone that sustains Chavismo's repressive apparatus.

The president also assured that Venezuela is surrounded by a naval force unprecedented in the history of South America and warned that the pressure on the regime will continue to increase. As he explained, the goal is to provoke unprecedented impact as long as what he described as the misappropriation of U.S. oil, land and other assets persists.

Trump called the Venezuelan regime "illegitimate" and designated it a foreign terrorist organization, citing, in addition to asset theft, terrorism-related activities, drug trafficking and human trafficking.

Migration and national security

Trump also linked the measure to immigration policy, noting that illegal immigrants and criminals sent to the United States by the Maduro regime during the Joe Biden administration are being returned to Venezuela at an accelerated rate. In his message, he emphasized that the United States will not allow criminals, terrorists, or other countries to steal, threaten, or harm the nation, nor will it allow a hostile regime to appropriate U.S. assets.

Seizure of the oil tanker "Skipper"

The already-strained bilateral relationship recently intensified when Trump announced the seizure of an oil tanker identified as Skipper off the Venezuelan coast. According to Attorney General Pam Bondi, the vessel would have been used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

The U.S. administration described the Skipper as part of a clandestine fleet of approximately 1,000 tankers operating covertly in global shipping lanes. These vessels would transport oil from sanctioned countries such as Venezuela, Iran and Russia in defiance of international restrictions.