US President Donald Trump has declared a complete naval blockade of Venezuela.
"Today I am ordering a complete blockade of all oil tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela," Trump wrote on the Truth Social social network.
The Venezuelan government responded by calling Trump's decision "absolutely unfounded" and a violation of freedom of trade and navigation.
This fall, the Trump administration assembled the most significant naval task force in the region's history in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela. The group's official mission was to combat drug trafficking.
In his post, Trump, referring to "stolen oil fields," accused the Venezuelan government led by Nicolas Maduro of theft of American property, terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and murder.
"The largest naval force in the history of South America surrounds Venezuela. It will only grow, and they will be in for a shock as they have never seen before until they return to the United States of America all the oil, land, and other property that was stolen from us," Trump wrote.
Nicolas Maduro's predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, nationalized oil fields in the first decade of this century, forcing US and other Western companies to hand over controlling stakes to the Venezuelan state-owned oil corporation PDVSA.
Trump also noted in the post that on November 24, the United States designated Maduro and his entourage as a "foreign terrorist organization."
