Trump Makes More Deranged Threats Against Venezuela

The president’s latest outburst is typical of how he conducts his foreign policy.

The president issued more deranged threats against Venezuela yesterday:

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Tuesday, referring to the US military forces in the Caribbean.

“I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,” he added.

Imposing a blockade on another country is an act of war. The U.S. has already been waging a pitiless economic war on Venezuela for years, but a physical blockade to shut down its oil exports is a major escalation. If enforced, it would inflict additional harm on the people of Venezuela, who have borne the brunt of broad sanctions since the first time Trump pursued regime change in their country. This is the cruel and destructive policy that Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leadeer, has been cheering on.