The move is an escalation of military operations and a pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s leader. But its scope and economic impact are not clear.

US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday a blockade of "sanctioned oil vessels" heading to and leaving Venezuela, sharply escalating his pressure campaign against Caracas while issuing new demands for the country's crude. "Today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Tuesday evening.

Oil shipments unaffected, state producer says, after Trump escalates standoff.

WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump today ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington’s latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government, targeting its main source of income.

In a statement, Venezuela's government said it rejected Trump's "grotesque threat".

In a post on social media Tuesday night announcing the blockade, Trump alleged Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes.

Trump said the decisions are based on allegations including “the theft of our Assets and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking.”

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is ordering a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country's economy. Trump's escalation comes after U.S. forces…

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a "total and complete blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela,

A firm controlled by a businessman tied to a seized tanker carrying Venezuelan oil has sold millions of barrels from a Chevron-operated oil field.