Venezuela’s Maduro says the US is ‘fabricating’ a war against him

As Washington sent the largest warship ever built to South America, Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro claimed that the US government is “fabricating” a war against him.

In response to the rumors that the Venezuelan government has been overthrown, the US military presence there has increased significantly.

As the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, which can accommodate up to 90 aircraft and attack helicopters, gets closer to Venezuela, Maduro claimed in a national broadcast on Friday night.

Trump has falsely claimed that he is the leader of the Tren de Aragua organized crime organization, despite his lack of supporting evidence.

They are fabricating a vulgar, criminal, and utterly fake, according to Maduro. “Venezuela does not produce cocaine leaves.”

Tren de Aragua, which has its roots in a prison in Venezuela, is known for its involvement in extortion, people smuggling, and contract killings.

Countries including the US have called for Maduro to leave the country after he was widely accused of stealing the Venezuelan election last year.

Trump claims he has authorized CIA operations in Venezuela and that he is considering ground attacks against alleged drug cartels in the Caribbean nation, and that there are growing skepticism in the area.

For their alleged role in bringing drugs into the US, US forces have bombed 10 boats since September 2, with eight of the attacks occurring in the Caribbean. The attacks resulted in the deaths of at least 43 people.

Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Venezuela’s defense minister, stated on Saturday that the nation is conducting military exercises to shield its coast from any potential “covert operations.”

“We are conducting an exercise that started 72 hours ago, a coastal defence exercise,” Padrino said, “to protect ourselves from drug trafficking, terrorist threats, and covert operations that aim to destabilize the country internally.”

A member of Maduro’s civilian militia carrying a Russian Igla-S shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile was portrayed on Venezuelan state television alongside images of military personnel stationed in nine coastal states.

“CIA is present everywhere in the world,” Padrino asserted. Any attempt will fail, according to the statement “they may deploy countless CIA-affiliated units in covert operations from any part of the country.”

Eight US Navy ships, ten F-35 warplanes, and a nuclear-powered submarine have been stationed in anti-drug operations since August, but Caracas claims these maneuvers are part of a Venezuelan government’s cover-up.

Leopoldo Lopez, an opposition politician, is accused of egging on an invasion, and Maduro announced on Saturday that he had started legal proceedings to revoke his citizenship and have his passport canceled.

Lopez, a well-known opposition figure from Venezuela and who has been living in Spain since 2020, has publicly backed US naval operations in the Caribbean and the prosecution of alleged drug traffickers.

The opposition leader attacked the action, saying that “no Venezuelan born in Venezuela can have their nationality revoked.” He responded to his X account. He once more backed military deployments and counterterrorism operations by the US.

After participating in anti-government protests in 2014, Lopez spent more than three years in a military prison. He was accused of “instigation and conspiracy to commit a crime” and received a sentence of more than 13 years in prison.

After being released by a group of military personnel during a political crisis in Venezuela, he later received house arrest and re-entered the nation in 2020.

Colombia’s leadership is currently in the US’s crosshairs.

Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, his family, and Armando Benedetti, interior minister of the South American nation, have been subject to sanctions by the US Department of Treasury.

The left-leaning Petro and his right-leaning Trump’s rivalry in the US made a significant escalation after Friday’s decision.

The US Treasury accused Petro of preventing accountability and keeping criminal organizations out of Colombia’s cocaine industry in a statement.

The Treasury cited Petro’s “Total Peace” strategy, a process that involves negotiations with armed rebels and criminal organizations to end Colombia’s six-decade-old internal conflict.

Source: Aljazeera