World War 3 fears continue to grow as US President Donald Trump has now orderered a sweeping naval blockade on Venezuela and labelled its government a terrorist group
As World War 3 fears are growing, US President Donald Trump has now ordered a full blockade on oil tankers going in and out of Venezuela. The polarising Republican head of state has called the Latin American country a terrorist group and accused it of drug smuggling and human trafficking.
Experts have been warning that Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and his aggressive push for US dominance risks sparking dangerous new global conflicts. And with Trump questionable mystery announcements, the fears for sudden escalations and unpredictable international crises are only growing.
Trump has already been accused of reviving the old Monroe Doctrine, once meant to keep Europe out of Latin America, and twisting it into a tool for aggressive US dominance, and now his tough new blockade on Venezuela is only fuelling more fears.
Trump has announced “a total and complete” blockade on all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela, a move the Venezuelan government slammed as “warmongering threats”.
Trump declared that Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro’s government is now considered a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO), accusing it of “Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking.”
Alongside the blockade, the US has ramped up its military presence in the region and carried out deadly strikes on boats it claims were smuggling drugs, though it has not provided public evidence, the BBC reported.
Trump boasted on his Truth Social platform that Venezuela is “completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America”, warning it will “only get bigger” and “be like nothing they have ever seen before”.
He also reportedly accused Maduro’s government of using “stolen” oil to “finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping”.
The US has slapped new sanctions on dozens of ships linked to Venezuelan oil, as well as on Maduro’s relatives and businesses connected to what Washington calls his “illegitimate regime”.
Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, says the US is trying to “steal its resources” and Maduro claims the US “kidnapped the crew” and “stole” the seized ship, as per the BBC.
The military build-up reportedly includes thousands of US troops and the USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, now stationed close to Venezuela.
Congressman Joaquin Castro called Trump’s “naval blockade… unquestionably an act of war”, and said Congress would soon vote on a resolution “directing the president to end hostilities with Venezuela”.
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