Maduro says US naval forces aimed at regime change in Venezuela

Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, claimed that the US’s military deployment in the Caribbean is intended to overthrow his government, which the US has long viewed as a foe.

In a number of uncommon remarks made on Monday, Maduro stated that Venezuela aspires to peace but that the military is prepared to respond to any attacks by US forces.

According to Maduro, “They are seeking a regime change through military threat.” The biggest threat to our continent has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years is facing Venezuela.

Maduro has reportedly expressed concern about a US naval expansion in the area to combat drug trafficking, which has sparked rumors about possible military intervention against Venezuela. The Venezuelan leader has called on people to join militias and has deployed troops along the country’s borders.

The US Navy also has the destroyer USS Sampson and the cruiser USS Lake Erie in the waters off Latin America, along with two Aegis guided-missile destroyers, the USS Gravely and the USS Jason Dunham, in the Caribbean.

With the addition of amphibious assault ships with 4, 000 sailors and US Marines, those forces may grow even further in the coming days, according to the news agency Associated Press. For its part, the US has not made any announcements regarding personnel deployments to Venezuela.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has accused Maduro of having ties to a number of organized crime and drug trafficking organizations in the area, allegations for which Maduro has so far provided no proof.

In August, the US increased its bounty for information leading to Maduro’s arrest over allegations of drug trafficking to $50 million.

A claim that Trump and his allies had been pushing the envelope was overturned by an internal intelligence memo released in May that an internal memo concluded there was no evidence linking Maduro to the Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua. Additionally, that allegation had been a crucial component of the administration’s effort to quickly deport Venezuelans who had been accused of joining the illegally.

The Venezuelan leader had previously expressed an interest in working with the Trump administration in areas like immigration enforcement and accepting Venezuelans who have been deported from the US, despite his frequently used rhetoric to criticize the history of US intervention in Latin America.