tankers entering and leaving Venezuela - a move that Caracas has denounced as "warmongering threats". Trump wrote that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government had been designated a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO), which had also engaged in "Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking". His remarks come after the US seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week - a move that was seen as significant given Venezuela's reliance on oil. The US has also recently conducted deadly strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling boats, and has significantly built up its naval presence nearby.

Trump's post did not give further detail of how the wide-ranging blockade on sanctioned oil tankers would be enforced. As of last week, more than 30 of the 80 ships in Venezuelan waters or approaching the country were under US sanctions, according to data compiled by TankerTrackers.com. Multiple new US sanctions on ships said to be carrying Venezuelan oil were issued after the tanker was seized. Sanctions were also placed on some of President Maduro's relatives and on businesses associated with what the US called his illegitimate regime. In his Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump wrote that Venezuela was "completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America". He added that it would "only get bigger" and "be like nothing they have ever seen before". Trump also accused Maduro's government of using "stolen" oil to "finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping". The president has repeatedly accused Venezuela of drug smuggling, and since September the US military has killed at least 90 people with its strikes on boats that were allegedly carrying fentanyl and other illegal drugs to the US. However, it has provided no public evidence that these vessels were carrying drugs, be it fentanyl - which is mainly produced in Mexico - or cocaine. (BBC)