Trump's Oil Blockade
Trump's Oil Blockade: One More Step in the Criminal Escalation of War Against Venezuela's Sovereignty
The CLACSO Network of Centers in Venezuela strongly condemns the declaration by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, ordering a “total and complete blockade” of Venezuelan maritime oil trade. This measure constitutes a dangerous and deliberate escalation in the strategy of economic and political warfare against our nation, representing an act of unilateral aggression that violates all norms of international law.
Mr. Trump's proclamation, which goes so far as to refer to Venezuelan oil as his own under the illegitimate pretext of "recovering" it, exposes an imperial logic of colonial plunder. It is no longer even a matter of disguising intervention with fallacious narratives, but of openly pursuing a policy of piracy and looting.
This explicit threat is not an isolated incident, but rather the culmination of a policy of coercion aimed at breaking the sovereign will of the Venezuelan state. By invoking illegitimate pretexts, its government is consolidating an interventionist doctrine that seeks to subjugate nations through force, the plundering of their resources, and economic strangulation. It is not simply an instrument of pressure; it is a mechanism of war.
The naval blockade is, by its very nature, a hostile act that constitutes a flagrant violation of sovereignty and self-determination. Its strategic objective is to isolate and paralyze the country in order to force its political surrender. The international community must recognize this measure for what it is: a military escalation that threatens to destabilize the entire region.
As an academic network committed to critical thinking, we urgently call upon universities, research centers, and intellectual organizations worldwide to denounce this aggression. The impunity with which the Trump administration acts must be stopped by the unanimous mobilization of those who defend sovereignty, peace, and international law.
The defense of Venezuelan sovereignty, at this historical moment, represents the defense of the right of all peoples of the Global South to exist free from external coercion. Faced with this escalation of war, our response must be unity in intellectual and political action to dismantle the hegemonic discourses that legitimize intervention.
CLACSO Venezuela Network of Centers
December 17th 2025
This text does not necessarily express the position of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
