Maduro Claims Jesus 'Wouldn't Approve' Of 'Military Threats Against a Christian People Like Venezuela'

"Do you imagine that our lord would approve of bombings, the bombing of children in Gaza, military threats, against a Christian people like Venezuela's?" Maduro added.

The remarks come as Venezuela continues to face significant pressure from the Trump administration, most recently through the seizure of sanctioned oil tankers off its coast.

In fact, the U.S. is beefing up its military presence in the Caribbean further to board the Bella 1, a tanker linked to Venezuela and Iran as part of its blockade.

The Wall Street Journal noted that among the units being summoned is a Maritime Special Response Team, an elite force trained to board hostile ships.

The outlet added that the hunt for the tanker could be the most dangerous moment for the blockade, which seeks to exert economic pressure on the Maduro regime to force it out of power.

This is the first of three tankers targeted by the U.S. that has resisted being seized. It isn't publicly known why the ship has taken the stance, with the WSJ noting that most commercial vessels have little incentive to disobey the orders of U.S. armed forces.

"They are probably getting orders from somewhere," retired Rear Adm. William Baumgartner told the outlet. "These are owned by very bad people trying to make money in a particular manner."

The strategy plays a large role in the Trump administration's goal of forcing Maduro out. Another report detailed that the White House ordered military forces to focus on enforcing a "quarantine" of tankers.

An official told Reuters that 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."

Originally published on Latin Times