US Military Action Against Caribbean Drug Cartels?

The army of USA prepare plans to attack drug traffickers within the territory of Venezuela in a few weeks, according to the chain on Friday NBC News citing two anonymous American officials close to the matter in the White House.

NBC He also quotes two other people, whose names do not reveal, but states that they handle information from Plans to bombard drug traffickers in Venezuelaan action that would mean a tremendous escalation in an already very tense situation in the face of the large military deployment that Washington has done in the south of the Caribbean since this past summer.

Although the attacks could happen in a few weeks, the president Donald Trump He has not yet approved any decision, they said that sources. But they detailed that they work in Drones offensives against concrete individuals and drug laboratories.

The Trump government has said that the US contingent, composed of destroyers, amphibious transport ships, a nuclear propulsion submarine or combat aircraft, It has already destroyed four narcolachas in the Caribbean waters that supposedly departed from Venezuela with drugs on board.

The administration has not provided evidence that there were drugs in all these vessels. However, an official in the Dominican Republic, along with one of the United States embassy in that country, declared at a press conference on Sunday that drugs were found in the water after an attack.

According to the NBC report, two sources and an additional official familiar with the conversations said that the recent military escalation of the United States is partly due to the fact that the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, “is not doing enough”, to stop the flow of illegal drugs that leave his country.

In addition, Washington accuses the regime of Nicolás Maduro To integrate the dome of the Los Soles poster, an organization of which there is hardly any documentation and that according to the White House sends drug loads to the US.

The United States has recently deployed at least eight ships with more than 4,000 troops in waters in the region and has sent F-35 combat aircraft to Puerto Rico, according to the US army. “You can’t move so many resources there without considering all options,” said one of the sources of NBC.

For its part, Venezuela considers that the military operation in the Caribbean only seeks to exert pressure to separate the Chavism of power.

Maduro recently wrote a letter to Trump asking to resume the dialogue with the special envoy of the US, Richard Grenelll, and separate the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, which Caracas considers a toxic element in exchanges.

Trump took weight to the letter recently, and when asked about the possibility of attacks in Venezuelan territory, he just said “well, they will discover it.”

When asked about the possibility of US attacks in his country, Aníbal Sánchez Ismayel, a Venezuelan political analyst, told NBC News in a message from WhatsApp: “An attack on Venezuelan soil would have consequences that range from diplomatic protests to an increase in the political persecution of those who classify as collaborators, and a greater unity of the population in need of defending reaffirmed sovereignty.”

In 2020, during Trump’s first term, the Department of Justice accused Maduro of drug trafficking. The Trump government has accused Maduro of collaborating with cartels that, he says, sends cocaine, fentanyl and gang members to the United States. Recently, the Government increased the American reward for Maduro’s arrest to 50 million dollars. Venezuela is not a significant cocaine producer, but it is considered an important exit point for flights that transport the drug to other places.

Some Trump administration officials are disappointed because the United States military escalation does not seem to have weakened Maduro’s control over power or cause a significant response, said the official. The White House has faced more resistance than anticipated by attacks against drug traffickers, which has led the administration to carefully reflect on the next steps.

This includes conversations between the United States and Venezuela through leaders of the Middle East who act as intermediaries, as he has learned NBC News. According to a senior administration official, Maduro has spoken with these intermediaries about the concessions he would be willing to do to stay in power.

The senior official did not specify which countries act as intermediaries, except to affirm that they are allies. Trump is “willing to use all the elements of American power to prevent drugs from reaching our country and take those responsible to justice,” said the senior administration official. CNN He had previously reported that Trump was considering several options, including possible US attacks in Venezuela.

The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a request for comments. Maduro has previously denied any involvement in drug trafficking and has repeatedly alleged that the United States tries to overthrow it.

Earlier this month, Maduro sent a letter to Trump to start a dialogue, according to a publication of the Venezuelan government on social networks. The White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed that Trump received the letter, but condemned her.

“Frankly, I think Maduro repeated many lies in that letter, and the position of the administration on Venezuela has not changed, -Leavitt said at a press conference at the White House on Monday -we consider illegitimate to the Maduro regime, and the president has clearly demonstrated his willingness to use all the necessary means to stop the illegal traffic of lethal drugs of the Venezuelan regime towards the United States.”

With information from the EFE agency