Reuters reported the night of Dec. 24, that the White House has ordered U.S. military forces to focus almost exclusively on enforcing a “quarantine” of Venezuelan oil for at least the next two months, according to an unnamed U.S. official, indicating that Washington is currently more interested in using economic rather than military means to pressure Caracas.
“While military options still exist, the focus is to first use economic pressure by enforcing sanctions to reach the outcome the White House is looking [for],” the official told Reuters. “The efforts so far have put tremendous pressure on Maduro, and the belief is that, by late January, Venezuela will be facing an economic calamity unless it agrees to make significant concessions to the U.S.,” the official said.
