&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump signals new push to choke off drug flow, says land crackdowns against Venezuela are coming 'very soon'")
US President Donald Trump said Thursday (Nov 27) that the US "very soon" would step up its efforts to stop the flow of Venezuelan drug trafficking "by land." The move could sharpen tensions with Venezuela, which has long accused Washington of using anti-narcotics operations as a cover to force regime change. Speaking to US troops via video from Mar-a-Lago on Thanksgiving, Trump claimed great success in stopping narco-terrorism via the sea route.
What did Trump say about Venezuela?
Speaking during a Thanksgiving video call with American troops, Trump said maritime trafficking from Venezuela had already been largely curbed. "We've almost stopped — it's about 85 per cent stopped by sea," he said. "And we'll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that's going to start very soon," he told service members.
Washington, in recent days, has sent a large deployment of US military to the region, carrying out a number of airstrikes on alleged "narco-terrorist" boats in the international waters there. Washington so far has announced strikes only in international waters, under an anti-drug campaign named Southern Spear. Public statements show that more than 20 operations have been conducted in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, resulting in at least 83 deaths. The US has not released evidence that those targeted were drug traffickers.
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Officially, the mission targets transnational crime and narcotics shipments. Venezuelan officials, however, maintain that the operation is a pretext for regime change and the removal of President Nicolás Maduro, whom the US labels a drug trafficker. Maduro rejects the accusation.
