Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro warned that his country must “stand like warriors … ready to smash the teeth of the North American empire” Wednesday, a moment that coincided with the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.

President Trump is turning up the pressure against Venezuela and its strongman leader Nicolás Maduro, seizing a massive oil tanker en route to Cuba this week and slapping additional sanctions against his leadership.

Maduro has survived predictions and ridicule, but along the way, Venezuela lost millions of inhabitants, 72% of its economy, democratic legitimacy in the eyes of much of the world, and many of its most important international allies.

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When asked if he could rule out a ground invasion of Venezuela, Trump answered: “I don’t want to rule in or out.”

With the economy in ruins, and U.S. military forces off the coast, uncertainty and rumors mark life in Venezuela, dampening the yuletide mood.

The escalation targeting President Nicolás Maduro revives a Cold War playbook that had severe and lasting consequences for Latin American democracies and economies.