Trump Orders Blockade of Sanctioned Oil Tankers in Venezuela (1)

President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers going into and leaving Venezuela, ratcheting up pressure on Caracas as the US builds up its military presence in the region.

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump wrote on social media Tuesday. “It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before.”

The move threatens to choke off the economic lifeblood of a country that was already under severe financial pressure. But it will have a less profound impact on ...