Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro sharply rejected President Donald Trump's announcement of a total blockade on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers, calling the move a "grotesque threat" and an "absolutely irrational" attempt to impose a naval blockade aimed at seizing the country's resources.
In a statement issued hours after Trump said the United States would block all sanctioned tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, the Maduro regime accused Washington of violating international law, free trade and freedom of navigation. Maduro said Trump "pretends to impose, in an absolutely irrational way, a supposed military naval blockade" with the goal of "stealing Venezuela's wealth."
