US President Donald Trump ordered a “complete blockade” of oil tankers leaving Venezuela, ratcheting up tensions with Caracas and driving global crude prices higher.
Trump said Venezuela was surrounded by the “largest Armada” in the region’s history, which includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier. Despite the massive deployment, experts have questioned Washington’s intentions: Its troops are far too numerous for the tasks they’ve been assigned — anti-narcotics operations — yet too few for a ground invasion of Venezuela, while the White House chief of staff recently said Trump’s true ambition was to dislodge Venezuela’s president from power.
The blockade announcement wiped out a recent drop in oil prices, which had fallen amid hopes for a peace deal in Ukraine.