In response to Washington’s deployment of warships to waters off Venezuela to combat drug trafficking, the country’s defense minister announces that military installations and drones will be deployed to patrol the nation’s coastline.
Vladimir Padrino, the minister of defense, announced “significant” drone deployments as well as naval patrols along the nation’s Caribbean coast, along with “larger vessels further north in our territorial waters,” in a video posted on social media on Tuesday.
Washington made the move in response to its recent deployment of an amphibious squadron of three warships toward Venezuela’s coast in what it billed as a crackdown on Latin American drug cartels.
A guided missile cruiser and a fast-attack submarine with nuclear power were sent to the Caribbean, according to news reports on Monday, along with 2,200 Marines and other 4,500 US service members.
Following accusations by US President Donald Trump’s administration that Venezuela’s left-wing leader, Nicolas Maduro, worked with drug cartels and had connections to cocaine trafficking, the US navy was boosted.
Additionally, Washington announced that Maduro’s reward for drug possession and possession had doubled from $25 million to $50 million. Diosdado Cabello, the president of Venezuela, is also receiving a $25 million reward for his arrest or prosecution.
The Venezuelan cocaine trafficking cartel Cartel de los Soles, which Washington has labeled a terrorist organization, is being led by Maduro and members of his government, according to US officials.
Maduro has refuted the allegations and claimed that the US is trying to instigate a regime change in his nation.
buildup of military
In a weekly television interview on Monday, Maduro asserted that his nation is “free of cocaine production and coca leaf crops” in contrast to Colombia’s neighbor.
In response to Washington’s threats, Maduro has mobilized hundreds of thousands of local militia members to strengthen national security. He has also criticised the US government for not doing anything to stop drug use within its borders.
Along with Colombia, about 15, 000 Venezuelan soldiers have been stationed along the country’s border to avert drug trafficking and other criminal organizations.
In a separate announcement on Tuesday, Defense Minister Padrino claimed that a continuing operation in Venezuela’s northeastern corner had led to the destruction of shipyards where drug dealers intended to “produce semisubmersibles and boats by sea” to markets in Europe and North America.
Trump is urging the US to use the military to stop cartels that he says are responsible for the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs into American communities and for keeping violence in some US cities. He is also proposing to do so in response to Trump’s decision to deploy US warships and personnel off Venezuela.
The US’s “escalation of hostile actions and threats” were described in a letter by Venezuela’s ambassador to the UN, according to the local media outlet Noticias Venevision on Tuesday.
Venezuela claimed that Washington’s actions “a serious threat to regional peace and security” and that the presence of a nuclear-powered attack submarine was “a clear act of intimidation” in reference to the US’s upcoming arrival of US ships off the coast.
Additionally, the letter urged readers to “guarantee” that the US would “not deploy or threaten to use nuclear weapons in the region,” according to Noticias Venevision.
Analysts have downplayed the possibility of a US invasion or US strikes on Venezuela while many Venezuelans have dismissed the threat as posturing, according to the AFP news agency.
Since the US president’s first term, from 2017 to 2021, Maduro has been in Trump’s sights ever since the election that was held in July 2024, which was described as deeply flawed.
However, Maduro’s government’s attempt to oust him from power failed due to US policy’s use of maximum pressure on Venezuela, including an ongoing oil embargo.
Source: Aljazeera
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