Caracas, Venezuela - Venezuela struck a defiant note Wednesday, insisting its crude oil exports were not impacted by US President Donald Trump's announcement of a potentially crippling blockade.

Trump's declaration on Tuesday marked a new escalation in his months-long campaign of aggression against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

But Caracas, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves, shrugged off the threat of more pain, insisted it was proceeding with business as usual.

"Export operations for crude and byproducts continue normally. Oil tankers linked to PDVSA operations continue to sail with full security," state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) said.

Venezuela has been under a crippling US oil embargo since 2019, forcing it to sell its production on the black market at significantly lower prices, primarily to Asian countries.

On Tuesday, Trump poured fuel on the fire by declaring a "A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of" the country.

Referring to the heavy US military presence in the Caribbean – including the world's largest aircraft carrier – he warned "Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America."

On Wednesday, he reiterated that US forces would not "let anybody go in...that shouldn't be going through," before explicitly stating what many have suggested is the Trump administration's true endgame in Venezuela.

"They took all of our energy rights, they took all of our oil, from not that long ago, and we want it back," Trump said, referring to the nationalization of Venezuela's oil industry.

Maduro held telephone talks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres to discuss what he called the "escalation of threats" from Washington and their "implications for regional peace."

Guterres urged both sides to "exert restraint and de-escalate tensions to preserve regional stability."

Despite Trump's campaign to undermine domestic support for Maduro, the Venezuelan military said Wednesday it was "not intimidated" by the threats.

The foreign minister of China, the main market for Venezuelan oil, defended Caracas in a phone call with his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil.

"China opposes all unilateral bullying and supports all countries in defending their sovereignty and national dignity," he said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also offered her support, asking the UN to step up and "prevent any bloodshed."

Last week's seizure of the M/T Skipper, in a dramatic raid involving US personnel rappelling from a helicopter, marked a shift in Trump's threat to Venezuela.

In August, the US leader ordered the biggest military deployment in the Caribbean Sea since the 1989 US invasion of Panama – supposedly to combat drug trafficking, but taking particular aim at Venezuela, a minnow in the global drug trade.

US strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific – widely seen as illegal – have left at least 99 people dead, with the latest strike Wednesday claiming four more lives.