Officials say that President Trump has repeatedly raised the idea of a
full naval blockade being imposed on Venezuela for at least the last
year and a half as a way of trying to impose regime change, saying the US Navy could prevent all ships from entering and exiting the large South American country.
One person was quoted as saying that in recent weeks, Trump said “we
should get the ships out there” and “prevent anything going in.” Trump
has confirmed to the media that a blockade is “an option.”
Officially there is not a full naval blockade yet, though the US has
made efforts to prevent shipments to Venezuela, and earlier this week
was reported to have seized a ship full of food to prevent it getting to
Venezuela.
Trump backed regime change in Venezuela at the start of the year, and
continues to insist that the opposition is the rightful government, even
though in practice, that has not actually happened.
Trump Privately Suggested Full Naval Blockade of Venezuela
Suggested ships could stop all goods entering Venezuela
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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