"In the past week, Trump has added to his pressure campaign on President Nicolás Maduro by targeting the economic lifeblood of the regime: oil exports. The U.S. has seized three oil tankers in 11 days after Trump said on Truth Social that the United States was imposing a "TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE" of tankers carrying Venezuelan oil that are subject to U.S. sanctions."
"Some viewed the mention of a blockade as tantamount to a declaration of war, given that a blockade is recognized by international law as a belligerent act. But the response of many Venezuela experts we talked with, regardless of their political leanings, was: This is how the pressure campaign should have started all along. "I'm surprised they didn't do it much sooner," Juan Gonzalez, who served as a Latin America adviser at the National Security Council under President Joe Biden, told us."
Trump shifted focus to Venezuela's oil exports, targeting the regime's economic lifeblood by seizing three tankers in 11 days after declaring on Truth Social a "TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE" of sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipments. The administration also plans to seek compensation for American assets seized during past Venezuelan nationalizations. Striking at oil revenue could undermine Maduro's ability to remain in power or push him toward concessions. A blockade is recognized by international law as a belligerent act. Many experts across political lines said an oil-centered pressure campaign should have been initiated earlier, compared with prior military and counternarcotics actions.
Read at The Atlantic
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