Trump Officially Declares Maduro Regime a Foreign Terrorist Organization

MIAMI - U.S. President Donald Trump has officially designated the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on Tuesday evening.

The president announced the designation via Truth Social, citing theft of U.S. assets, terrorism, drug trafficking, and human trafficking. The post also points out that Venezuela is "completely surrounded by the largest naval force ever assembled in the history of South America", accusing the "illegitimate Maduro regime" of stealing "oil, land, and other assets" from the United States.

The designation comes less than a month after the U.S. State Department announced that the 'Cartel de Los Soles'–or Cartel of the Suns–as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, alleging that the crime network, accused of narco trafficking by U.S. authorities, is alleged to be "headed by Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking individuals... who have corrupted Venezuela’s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary."

President Trump also "ordered a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela", effectively squeezing Venezuela's primary means of generating critical revenues: oil exports.

On December 10, tensions escalated after U.S. forces boarded an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, seizing the vessel and its contents of roughly 1.1 million barrels of oil, which, according to U.S. officials, was surreptitiously loaded back in November.

The vessel, ship-named Skipper, was being surveilled by U.S. intelligence agencies and is suspected of being linked to a large illicit transport network shipping oil products to U.S. adversaries like Cuba and Iran.

The move attracted the attention of the region, especially from one of the more outspoken critics of the Trump administration's military deployment in the South Caribbean, Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

Petro has accused the White House of creating instability in the region and violating the region's sovereignty. Maduro has echoed these accusations, claiming that officials in Washington, namely, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, of spoiling for war and attempting to usurp the country's natural resources like oil and gold.

In response to the U.S. administration's campaign against suspected drug traffickers in the region, critics have condemned the attacks on vessels in the Caribbean, claiming that the vessels are being operated by "poor fishermen".

White House officials refute these claims, however, asserting that the necessary protocols on the rules of armed engagement are exhausted, adding that intelligence on these vessels has confirmed their links to criminal drug trafficking organizations operating in the region.

U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro has denounced the president's announcement of a naval blockage around the Venezuelan coast, calling it an "act of war... A war that the Congress never authorized and the American people do not want", Castro wrote.

Shortly after announcing the naval blockade around the Venezuelan coast, the Maduro government issued a press release, stating:

"The President of the United States intends to impose in an absolutely irrational manner an alleged naval military blockade on Venezuela, with the aim of stealing its wealth."