The White House has ordered U.S. military forces to focus almost entirely on enforcing a Venezuelan oil "quarantine" for at least the next two months, a U.S. official told Reuters, indicating that Washington is currently more interested in using economic rather than military means to pressure Caracas.

"While the military option remains on the table, the focus is primarily on using economic pressure by enforcing sanctions to achieve the desired outcome for the White House," the official said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

While President Donald Trump has publicly kept his exact objectives regarding Venezuela secret, he has privately pressured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to leave the country, as Reuters reported. Trump said on Monday that it would be wise for Maduro to leave power.

"The efforts so far have put tremendous pressure on Maduro, and the belief is that by the end of January, Venezuela will face economic catastrophe unless it agrees to make significant concessions to the U.S.," the official said.

US SEEKS THIRD SHIP SEIZURE

Trump has accused the South American nation of flooding the US with drugs, and his administration has for months bombed South American vessels suspected of carrying drugs. Many countries have condemned the attacks as extrajudicial killings.

Trump has also frequently threatened to begin bombing drug infrastructure on land and has authorized covert CIA activity directed at Caracas.

So far this month, the US Coast Guard has intercepted two tankers in the Caribbean Sea, both loaded with Venezuelan crude oil. The White House official's comments on Wednesday came after Reuters reported that the Coast Guard was awaiting additional forces to carry out a third seizure, the first attempted on Sunday, of an empty, sanctioned vessel known as the Bella-1.

Venezuelan Ambassador to the UN Samuel Moncada said on Tuesday: "The threat is not Venezuela. The threat is the US government."

LARGE US MILITARY PRESENCE IN THE CARIBBEAN

White House officials did not explain precisely what it means for the military to focus "almost exclusively" on preventing Venezuelan oil drilling. The US military's footprint is spread across the globe, and most of its missions and capabilities are not related to maritime deterrence.

The Pentagon has amassed a large military presence in the Caribbean with more than 15,000 troops. This includes an aircraft carrier, 11 other warships, and more than a dozen F-35 aircraft. While many assets could be used to assist in sanctions enforcement, many others, such as fighter jets, are not suited to the task.

On Tuesday, the United States told the United Nations that it would impose and enforce sanctions "to the fullest extent possible" to deprive Maduro of resources.

Earlier this month, Trump ordered a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, but the White House official's use of the word "quarantine" seemed to echo language used during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the administration of US President John F. Kennedy wanted to avoid escalation. Robert McNamara, Kennedy's then-secretary of defense, said in 2002: "We call it quarantine because blockade is a war word." (alg)

Source: Reuters.com