The votes follow a monthslong military campaign against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday asked the United Nations to act to avoid bloodshed in Venezuela, while other countries expressed concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump's recent blockade announcement.

The presidents of Latin America's two largest countries urged restraint on Wednesday in the face of escalating actions from the United States toward regional neighbor Venezuela.

They were really close,” one of the pilots told controllers of the encounter at approximately 26,000 feet. “We were climbing right into him.”

President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on Venezuela on Tuesday by announcing that he is ordering a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers ” entering and leaving the South American country.

The move is an escalation of military operations and a pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s leader. But its scope and economic impact are not clear.

As U.S.-Venezuela tensions rise, sociologist and historian Emmanuel Guerisoli wrote in Spanish in Venezuela’s El Nacional that a civil war is “very likely” if the United States tries to unilaterally oust President Nicolás Maduro. Newsweek has reached out to Guerisoli and the State Department for comment via email on Wednesday.