HUGE US MILITARY PRESENCE IN CARIBBEAN
The White House official did not clarify how the military would focus “almost exclusively” on interdicting Venezuelan oil. The US military operates globally, and many of its missions and capabilities are unrelated to maritime interdiction.
The Pentagon has built up a major military presence in the Caribbean, with more than 15,000 troops, including an aircraft carrier, 11 other warships and more than a dozen F-35 fighter jets. While some assets can assist with sanctions enforcement, others are not suited to that role.
On Tuesday, the United States told the United Nations it would impose and enforce sanctions “to the maximum extent” to deprive Maduro of resources.
Earlier this month, Trump ordered what he called a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. The White House official’s use of the term “quarantine” echoes language used during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the administration of President John F. Kennedy avoided the term blockade to reduce the risk of escalation.