The US president is reportedly weighing options to hit drug cartels in the country
US President Donald Trump is considering carrying out strikes against drug cartels on Venezuelan soil, CNN reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The reported deliberations come as the Pentagon has deployed at least eight warships and one submarine to the eastern Caribbean.
According to CNN, Tuesday’s missile strike on a boat allegedly smuggling drugs from Venezuela was just the first step in Trump’s efforts to neutralize drug trafficking in the region and potentially topple Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The US imposed sweeping sanctions on the socialist-ruled South American county during Trump’s first term in office, targeting its oil trade and financial sector. Last month, Attorney General Pam Bondi doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million.
Although Trump denied plans for regime change on Friday, he described Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election as “very strange.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated earlier this week that the US would “take on drug cartels wherever they are.”
Maduro has denied the accusations of involvement in drug trafficking and vowed to declare Venezuela a “republic in arms” if attacked by the US.
“Just as it wasn’t true that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, what they’re saying about Venezuela isn’t true either,” Maduro said on Friday, referring to the rationale behind the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
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