As part of its operations against Latin American drug cartels that Washington has labeled “narco-terrorist,” sources in the US reported to news agencies on Friday that 10 of the most advanced fighter jets are being flown to a Puerto Rican airfield.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
According to a report from American broadcaster CNN on Friday, the Trump administration is considering attacking drug trafficking organizations in Venezuela, which would mark a dramatic escalation of Washington and Caracas’ already-increasing tensions.
Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, demanded on Friday that the US abandon its “violent regime change plan in Venezuela and throughout Latin America.”
According to Maduro, the US should respect “sovereignty, the right to peace, and independence.”
Trump deserves my respect. He claimed that no military conflict can be caused by any of the differences we have experienced.
Venezuela has always been open to dialogue and converse.
In the wake of weeks of US threats, Maduro has mobilized Venezuela’s military, which has 340 000 soldiers, as well as reservists and militia members, who he claimed had more than 8 million.
Maduro warned reporters earlier this week that “if Venezuela were attacked, it would immediately start an armed struggle.”
Trump claimed on Friday that Venezuela’s regime change was not being discussed by the US.
Trump referred to Maduro’s return to office in January after allegations of irregularities in the country’s presidential election as “we are talking about the fact that you had an election that was very strange, to put it mildly.”
Trump: “They’ll be shot down.”
In addition to the reported US naval expansion in the southern Caribbean, where American warships, a number of Marines, and a large number of fast-attack submarines powered by nuclear power, have been stationed just outside Venezuelan territorial waters, comes the reported deployment of F-35 warplanes.
The US Department of Defense charged Venezuela on Thursday that it was “highly provocative” by flying two F-16 fighter planes close to the USS Jason Dunham, a guided-missile destroyer.
More than 4,500 sailors and marines are on board the Dunham, one of at least seven US warships stationed in the Caribbean.
Trump later said to Venezuela that if ship commanders believe they pose a threat to their vessels, “they’ll be shot down if they put us in a dangerous position.”
A request for comment on Venezuela’s communication ministry’s response to claims that Venezuelan fighter jets flew over a US warship was not received.
Trump claimed Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization that he had tied to Maduro, belonged to, and that US forces blew up a speedboat in the Caribbean on Tuesday.
Law experts have questioned the legality of Trump’s claim that 11 people were killed in the US attack, which Caracas characterized as an “extrajudicial killing” of civilians.
Trump’s military strategy toward what Washington calls “narco-terrorist” groups was defended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week.
Rubio spoke about drug cartels while in Mexico on Wednesday, saying that “what will stop them is when you blow them up and when you get rid of them.”
