Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks at a swearing-in event for government-organized community committees at the presidential palace in Caracas on December 1, 2025. Maduro told supporters at the event that Venezuela does not want "a slave's peace," as US military deployment has been "testing" his country for months. Photo: VCG

The US is taking another step to ratchet up pressure on Venezuela by ordering a blockade of all "sanctioned oil tankers" into the South American country, a move a Chinese expert says exposed a revival of the Monroe Doctrine.

US President Donald Trump has said he is ordering a "a total and complete" blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela, BBC reported on Wednesday, citing his post on Truth Social. 

Trump said that the Venezuelan government had been designated a foreign terrorist organization and accused it of stealing US assets, as well as "Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking," according to the BBC.

His remarks came a week after the US seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. In a statement, Venezuela's government said it rejected Trump's "grotesque threat", the BBC reported.

Venezuela's government released a statement Tuesday accusing the US of "violating international law, free trade, and the principle of free navigation" with "a reckless and grave threat" against the South American country, the Associated Press reported.

"On his social media, he assumes that Venezuela's oil, land, and mineral wealth are his property," the statement said of Trump's post. "Consequently, he demands that Venezuela immediately hand over all its riches. The President of the United States intends to impose, in an utterly irrational manner, a supposed naval blockade on Venezuela with the aim of stealing the wealth that belongs to our nation," according to AP.

The Venezuela government, according to the statement, plans to denounce the situation before the United Nations, per AP.

The intention of the US government is clear — to force Venezuela's current leadership, including President Nicolás Maduro, to step down through intensified pressure, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

Li said the US and Venezuela are already locked in a sustained conflict, even if it has not yet escalated into higher-intensity operations. At the same time, considering the risk of failure, Washington is unlikely to recklessly expand the conflict, Li said.

Li described the approach as a familiar US pattern in South America, forcing regional countries to comply with US demands and domestic laws. Li said Washington still views the region as its "backyard." 

It remains unclear how Washington intends to enforce the proposed blockade. According to AP, the US Navy currently has 11 ships in the region, including an aircraft carrier and several amphibious assault ships, along with aircraft such as helicopters and V-22 Ospreys. The Navy has also been operating P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft in the area.

AP also reported that the US military buildup has been accompanied by a series of military strikes on boats in international waters in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. The campaign, which has drawn bipartisan scrutiny among US lawmakers, has killed at least 95 people in 25 known strikes on vessels.

In recent months, the US has also moved warships into the region. The Trump Administration has for weeks said that the US will move its campaign beyond the water and start strikes on land. 

The escalation has sparked dissent within the US. Congressman Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas, said Trump's "naval blockade is unquestionably an act of war," the BBC reported. He said US lawmakers would vote on Thursday on a resolution "directing the president to end hostilities with Venezuela."

China has repeatedly voiced opposition to such actions. Asked earlier about the US seizure of a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil and the US Treasury's sanctions on six tankers, including a Hong Kong-flagged vessel, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Friday that China opposes unilateral illicit sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law or authorization of the UN Security Council, and the abuse of sanctions.

At a regular press briefing on December 3, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that China stands against any action that violates the purposes and principles of the UN Charter or infringes on countries' sovereignty and security, and opposes external interference in Venezuela's domestic affairs under any pretext. China calls on all parties to keep Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace and prevent further escalation, Lin said.