美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)周二宣布对受制裁的委内瑞拉油轮实施“封锁”，加大了美国对委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗(Nicolas Maduro)政权的压力。
“委内瑞拉完全被南美历史上最大的舰队包围了，”特朗普在他的社交媒体平台上写道。“它只会变得更大，对他们的冲击将是他们从未见过的——直到他们把以前从我们这里窃取的石油、土地和其他资产全部归还美利坚合众国。”
目前还不清楚特朗普指的是被盗的石油和土地。然而，在马杜罗的前任乌戈·查韦斯(Hugo Chavez)的领导下，委内瑞拉政府在2007年将油田国有化后，没收了一些美国石油公司的资产。
在帖子中，特朗普宣布“全面彻底封锁所有进出委内瑞拉的受制裁油轮”，并要求归还石油和资产。
委内瑞拉政府回应了特朗普的帖子，称他的声明是对该国的“鲁莽和严重的威胁”，称其违反了国际法、自由贸易和航行自由。
委内瑞拉政府在一份声明中表示，“美国总统打算以绝对不理智的方式，对委内瑞拉实施所谓的海军军事封锁，目的是窃取属于我们祖国的财富。”
美国目前在加勒比海有11艘军舰，是几十年来最多的一次，但即使加强了存在，也可能不足以实施传统意义上的封锁，即完全封锁一个国家的海岸线。
路透社(Reuters)上周报道称，帮助运送委内瑞拉石油的受制裁船只数量约为30艘。据油轮追踪者称，目前在委内瑞拉水域有十多艘受制裁的油轮。
上周，美国在委内瑞拉海岸扣押了一艘受制裁的油轮，官员们称这艘油轮参与了一个支持外国恐怖组织的非法石油运输网络，并用于在这个南美国家和伊朗之间运输石油。这艘油轮是开往古巴的。
另外，自9月以来，美国军方已经启动了几十次罢工特朗普政府表示，这些举措是为了阻止毒品流入美国。
特朗普周二晚上的帖子是在白宫办公厅主任苏西·怀尔斯之后发布的引自《名利场》称特朗普“想继续炸船，直到马杜罗喊叔叔。”
在周二的帖子中，特朗普谴责马杜罗政府是“敌对政权”。
尽管美国长期以来一直认为马杜罗是腐败独裁政权的首脑，但特朗普上个月采取了前所未有的行动，宣布他是外国恐怖组织的头目.
“非法的马杜罗政权正在使用这些被盗油田的石油来资助自己、毒品恐怖主义、人口贩运、谋杀和绑架，”特朗普周二在《邮报》上写道。“由于盗窃我们的资产，以及许多其他原因，包括恐怖主义、毒品走私和人口贩运，委内瑞拉政权被指定为外国恐怖组织。”
Trump announces 'TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE' of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday what he called a "blockade" of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers, ratcheting up American pressure on the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
"Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America," Trump wrote in a lengthy post on his social media platform. "It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before -- Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us."
It was not immediately clear what stolen oil and land Trump was referring to. However, under Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan government expropriated assets from some American oil companies after the country nationalized oil fields in 2007.
In the post, Trump announced "A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela" and demanded the return of oil and assets.
The Venezuelan government responded to Trump's post, calling his declaration a "reckless and serious threat," against the country that it says violates international law, free trade and freedom of navigation.
"The President of the United States intends to impose in an absolutely irrational manner, a supposed naval military blockade on Venezuela with the objective of stealing the wealth that belongs to our homeland," the Venezuelan government said in a statement.
The U.S. currently has 11 warships in the Caribbean -- the most in decades -- but even with a stepped-up presence, that would likely not be enough to put in place a blockade in the traditional sense, which involves sealing a country's coastline completely.
Reuters reported last week the fleet of sanctioned ships helping move Venezuelan oil numbered about 30. According to Tanker Trackers, there are more than a dozen sanctioned tankers in Venezuelan waters at the moment.
Last week, the U.S. seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela that officials said was involved in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations and used to transport oil between the South American country and Iran.The oil tanker was headed to Cuba.
Separately, since September, the U.S. military has launcheddozens of strikeson vessels allegedly carrying drugs -- moves the Trump administration has said are about stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S.
Trump's post Tuesday evening came after White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles wasquoted in Vanity Fairas saying that Trump "wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle."
In the post on Tuesday, Trump denounced Maduro's government as a "Hostile Regime."
While the U.S. has long considered Maduro the head of a corrupt dictatorial regime, Trump last month, in an unprecedented move,declared him the head of a foreign terrorist organization.
"The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping," Trump wrote in the post on Tuesday. "For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION."
