United States President Donald Trump has hinted that the US forces could soon launch military strikes against the drug cartel tied to the Caracas government from the sea and land.
The US has carried out at least 9 strikes on alleged drug cartel boats in Caribbean waters and in the Pacific Ocean, out of which 7 were carried out near the coast off Venezuela, killing as many as 33 people over the past two months.
During his media interaction on Thursday evening, Trump touted what he described as great success in intercepting alleged Venezuelan state-linked “drug boats”. He said, “Drugs coming to the US have now dropped to five per cent compared to what they were a year ago.” Although he did not specify how he got the exact five per cent number.
“The land is going to be next,” he added, without elaborating on where and when potential attacks could take place. Trump said he did not need Congress's approval to strike the drug cartel, as his country was in an undeclared war with narco-terrorists.
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“We may go to the Senate; we may go to the Congress and tell them about it, but I can’t imagine they’d have any problem with it,” he said. In recent weeks, the US naval and air force operations have struck what Washington says are Venezuelan-linked drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing more than 33 people.
The Maduro-led government has denied any involvement in narcotics trafficking and accused the US of seeking “regime change” in the country. On Thursday, sources claimed that two US nuclear bombers (B-1) flew near the Venezuelan airspace. Trump, however, denied the claim but accepted that “we’re not happy with Venezuela.”
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