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Venezuela Sends Oil Tankers Under Naval Escort After Trump Declares Maritime Blockade
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Venezuela has begun escorting oil tankers out of its ports with naval vessels following US President Donald Trump’s declaration of a “total and complete” maritime blockade targeting the country’s oil exports, The New York Times reported on December 17.
The move raises the risk of a confrontation at sea between Caracas and Washington.
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According to sources familiar with the matter, several commercial ships departed Venezuela’s eastern coast between the evening of December 16 and the morning of December 17 under protection from the Venezuelan Navy. A US official told the outlet that Washington is aware of the escorted sailings and is weighing possible responses, as tensions escalate rapidly.
Trump announced the blockade late on December 16, framing it as pressure on Venezuela’s oil sector amid growing friction with Caracas.
In a statement, he claimed Venezuela was “completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” adding that the force “will only get bigger” until Venezuelan authorities return “all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”
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The White House has spent months increasing its military presence in the Caribbean, officially citing counter-narcotics operations. By mid-November, approximately 15,000 US troops had been deployed in the region. The blockade announcement followed the recent seizure of a tanker carrying nearly two million barrels of Venezuelan crude, a move that further inflamed relations.
“What Trump is doing now is outside the realm of nonviolent sanctions,” said Edward Fishman, a former US State Department sanctions specialist. “Once you impose a naval blockade, you’re only a stone’s throw away from using kinetic force.”
The Kremlin is not involved in the standoff. Still, the episode has unsettled Latin America, where officials and analysts fear Washington may be pushing Caracas toward a military response that could justify broader US intervention.
For now, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has ordered naval escorts to keep exports moving, testing how far Washington is willing to go to enforce the blockade—and how close both sides are willing to edge toward open conflict.
Earlier, Russia delivered Pantsir-S1 air defense systems to Venezuela—a weapon previously not in service with Caracas.
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