US Plans Anti-Drug Operations in Venezuela

Washington – Sputnik. The American president said in a speech during a dinner at the Kennedy Center: “We will start the same process on land because we know every road, we know every house, and we know where they live. We know everything about them.” Last Wednesday, Trump stated to reporters from the White House, “Very soon, we will start implementing this on land as well because we know all the roads, we know every house. We know where they make this trash (drugs).” The United States justifies its military presence in the Caribbean by combating drug trafficking. In the past September and October, Washington repeatedly used its armed forces to destroy boats allegedly carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela. In late September, NBC reported that the U.S. military is working on options to target drug traffickers inside Venezuela. On November 3, Trump expressed his opinion that Maduro’s days as Venezuela’s leader are numbered, while also affirming that the United States does not intend to wage war on the republic. For its part, Caracas considered these actions a provocation aimed at destabilizing the region and a violation of international agreements regarding the Caribbean as a demilitarized and nuclear-free zone. Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Russia maintains contact with the Venezuelan leadership amid rising tensions in the Caribbean and is ready to respond to Caracas’s requests.