The Trump administration is considering multiple options for launching military strikes against alleged drug cartels in Venezuela, including hitting targets that could weaken Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as it is deploying F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico, CNN has reported.
US officials told CNN that the US bombing of a boat near Venezuela last week was just the beginning of a much larger effort against drug trafficking that could lead to the ouster of Maduro. US officials claim the pressure on Venezuela and Maduro is about drug trafficking and a response to overdose deaths in the US, but fentanyl doesn’t come from or through Venezuela, and the majority of the cocaine that is transported to the US comes through the Pacific, not the Caribbean.
Regardless of the details, the US has labeled Maduro a “narcoterrorist” and increased the bounty on his head to $50 million over allegations of involvement in drug trafficking. On Friday, Trump downplayed the idea of regime change in Venezuela, saying, “We’re not talking about that. But we are talking about the fact that [Venezuela] had an election, which was a very strange election, to put it mildly.”
But on Sunday, Trump was asked about the possibility of targeting “cartels” in Venezuela and said, “Well, you’re going to find out.” Any US strikes on Venezuelan territory could lead to retaliation from Venezuela’s military, which would turn into a full-blown war.
The US deployed F-35s to Puerto Rico after it claimed that two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over a US Navy vessel. The Department of Defense, now known as the Department of War, said in a press release that the Venezuelan flight was “provocative” despite the fact that the US deployed a large number of naval vessels near Venezuela’s coast.
“The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter, or interfere with counter-narcotics and counter-terror operations carried out by the US military,” the Department of War said.
The policy toward Venezuela is largely being driven by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has long wanted regime change in Venezuela. In 2019, during the first Trump administration’s attempt at ousting Maduro, Rubio shared a photo on Twitter of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the moment he was being brutally murdered in an apparent threat to Maduro.
The new pressure on Venezuela comes after Maduro’s government has been cooperative with the US on deportations, and after the Trump administration began allowing Chevron to resume oil operations in Venezuela. According to the CNN report, US and Venezuelan officials continue to coordinate on deportations despite the current tensions.
