Washington (AFP) – The Pentagon on Friday ordered the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to counter drug-trafficking organizations in Latin America, a major escalation of a US military buildup that Venezuela’s leader warned was steered at “fabricating a war.”
US President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise of ending foreign military interventions, in early September launched a military campaign targeting boats allegedly used to smuggle narcotics, destroying at least 10 vessels in a series of strikes. But the American military buildup as part of that campaign — including 10 F-35 stealth warplanes and eight US Navy ships — has sparked fears in Venezuela that Washington’s ultimate goal is the overthrow of President Nicolas Maduro, and the decision to send the carrier is certain to add to those concerns.
Late Friday, Maduro accused the Trump administration of stoking “a new eternal war.” “They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war that we are going to prevent,” Maduro told state broadcasters. The US-Venezuela standoff has also pulled in Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, a sharp critic of the American strikes who was sanctioned by Washington on Friday for allegedly allowing drug trafficking to flourish.
The deployment of the USS Gerald R Ford and accompanying ships “will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement, referring to transnational criminal organizations. The carrier announcement came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said an overnight strike on a boat alleged to be operated by Venezuelan drug trafficking gang Tren de Aragua had killed six people in the Caribbean Sea.
“If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda. Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you,” Hegseth said on X.
– ‘Inflame South America’ –
The latest military action brings the death toll from the US strikes to at least 43, according to an AFP tally based on US figures, but Washington has yet to release evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics. Regional tensions have flared as a result of the campaign, with Caracas accusing the United States of plotting to overthrow Maduro, who said earlier this week that Venezuela had 5,000 Russian man-portable surface-to-air missiles to counter US forces.
On Thursday, at least one US B-1B bomber flew over the Caribbean off Venezuela’s coast, flight tracking data showed, following a show of force by multiple US B-52 bombers that circled off the country’s coast last week. Colombia’s Petro — who has accused Trump of murder over the strikes on the alleged drug boats — was sanctioned by the US Treasury on Friday along with his wife and son.
Regional powerhouse Brazil has also weighed in on US actions, with a senior foreign policy advisor telling AFP that the country views a military intervention in Venezuela as unacceptable, fearing it could be damaging for the whole of South America. “We cannot accept an outside intervention because it will trigger immense resentment,” said Celso Amorim, aide to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “It could inflame South America and lead to radicalization of politics on the whole continent.”
Trump meanwhile said Thursday that he did not need a declaration of war from US lawmakers to attack Venezuela or other countries he accuses of involvement in the drug trade, warning that strikes on land are coming. “The land is going to be next,” Trump said, likening drug cartels to the brutal Islamic State jihadist group.
© 2024 AFP
