Trump Says US Not Considering Strikes Within Venezuela After Attack Reports

Trump Says US Not Considering Strikes Within Venezuela After Attack Reports

US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) said that his administration is not considering any military strikes on Venezuela amid reports that the United States may expand its counter-drug campaign in the Caribbean.

When asked by a journalist aboard Air Force One about reports that he was considering such strikes, Trump responded briefly, “No," news agency AFP reported.

His remarks came amid reports that Trump administration has planned attacks on military installations inside Venezuela, which could come at any moment as the United States is escalating its offensive against the Soles drug cartel.

His remarks came weeks after the US carried out air and maritime operations and destroyed several suspected drug-smuggling vessels near Venezuela. In recent weeks, Trump has publicly said that his administration will carry out strikes against drug-related targets inside Venezuela.

The United States has built up a large military presence in the Caribbean in recent months, with fighter jets, warships, and thousands of troops. That presence is expected to grow with the arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group in the coming weeks. Trump earlier said he authorised CIA operations in Venezuela, and that he is considering ground attacks against alleged drug cartels in the country.

Washington began the campaign of strikes targeting alleged drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean in early September that has killed at least 62 people and destroyed 14 boats and a semi-submersible. However, the governments where the victims hail from have claimed that they are fishermen. The Trump administration has described these operations as part of a broader crackdown on drug-trafficking networks linked to Venezuela.

The Trump administration has alleged that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro leads the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), a drug-trafficking organisation embedded in Venezuela's military, and works with groups including Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang, Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and other transnational criminal networks who pose a threat to the national security of the US by illegal trafficking of drugs.

Meanwhile, Maduro has accused Washington of “fabricating a war," and seeking regime change through growing military pressure.

The US move has widened divisions within Venezuela's opposition, already strained by government crackdowns and internal rivalries.

One camp, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, has sided with Trump, contending that Maduro threatens US security and backing the deployment. Another, led by two-time presidential contender Henrique Capriles, rejected military intervention and called for renewed talks with Maduro's government.

(With inputs from agencies)

Source: News18
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