On Tuesday, Trump threatened what he called a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers traveling in and out of Venezuela, ratcheting up pressure on the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose government depends in part on revenue derived from oil sales.

President Donald Trump says he is ordering a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.

This is Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro's government, targeting its main source of income.

The fleet of ghost ships Venezuela uses to smuggle part of its oil to black markets, which President Donald Trump vowed this week to stop with a military blockade, is made up of dozens of old tankers and operates following the example of other nations under sanctions such as Russia and Iran,

Trump orders total blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers as the South American nation controls world's largest oil reserves with over 300 billion barrels.