Department of War plans, which would use drone strikes to hit alleged cartel leaders and drug labs, follow a deadly wave of U.S. boat attacks in the Caribbean, raising fears of direct conflict.
Officials within the newly-renamed Department of War are reportedly preparing plans for drone attacks on alleged drug traffickers inside Venezuela that could begin within a few weeks, according to a new report from NBC News.
The plans—which have not yet received final approval from President Donald Trump—would mark a significant escalation in the administration’s military campaign against alleged narcotics flows from the South American nation. The report, citing four sources including two U.S. officials familiar with the actual plans, states the proposals call for U.S. drones to strike Venezuelan traffickers’ membership, leaders, and drug labs.
The potential for strikes on Venezuelan soil follows an aggressive period of U.S. action in the Caribbean. The Trump administration has already claimed responsibility for the killing of at least 17 Venezuelans on boats over the last three weeks under the justification that they were alleged drug traffickers, as the Tampa Free Press has reported.
A senior administration official told NBC News that the president is “prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.” Another source indicated that the administration believes Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has not done enough to stop drugs from entering the U.S. via Venezuela.
When asked for comment, the White House pointed to previous remarks on the conflict: “We’ll see what happens. Venezuela is sending us their gang members, their drug dealers and drugs. It’s not acceptable.”
The prospect of internal strikes has drawn a sharp response from Caracas. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto told the United Nations that the U.S. has an “illegal and completely immoral military threat hanging over our heads.” He went on to accuse the Trump administration of seeking war “to rob Venezuela’s immeasurable oil and gas wealth.”
Maduro has consistently denied any role in drug trafficking, characterizing the U.S.’s focus on the issue as a “flimsy pretense for trying to enact regime change.” The U.S. previously offered a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro, whom Attorney General Pam Bondi accused of being “one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world.”
The military escalation comes as the U.S. and Venezuela are reportedly engaged in discussions through Middle Eastern leaders acting as intermediaries, though any military action would raise the risk of direct conflict between the two nations.
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