The president of the United States, Donald Trump, took advantage of a virtual audience this Thursday with members of the Armed Forces on the occasion of the celebration of Thanksgiving to raise his tone a little more with a new lurch in the midst of rhetorical and military escalation with Venezuela.
Trump threatened to begin “very soon” to arrest the “drug traffickers” of that country by land, and thus continue the task begun with the campaign of extrajudicial executions carried out by the US Army in Caribbean waters, which the Republican considers a success. “On land it’s easier,” he said. “We have warned them: Stop sending poison to our country,” he added, in reference to drug trafficking for which he blames the Chavista regime.
Since last September 2, within the framework of an operation that Washington retrospectively named Spear of the South, the United States has bombed at least 21 vessels and killed at least 83 people, most of them in Caribbean waters and near the Venezuelan coast. Beyond the videos in which these supposed drug boats are seen jumping into the air, the US authorities have not provided evidence in any of these attacks that the targets were involved in drug trafficking tasks. Nor, about the identity of the murdered crew members.
long weekend
“You have probably noticed that people do not want to transport (drugs) by sea, so we will also begin to detain them by land,” Trump explained in the virtual meeting with the US military, in which he participated from his Mar-a-Lago mansion, in Palm Beach (Florida), where he traveled to spend the long Thanksgiving weekend.
The US president accuses Venezuela of being involved in illegal drug trafficking that has caused the largest drug crisis in the country’s history, especially due to fentanyl, despite the fact that it is proven that this powerful opiate reaches the United States from Mexico and, to a lesser extent, from China, and not through the now militarized Caribbean route. Behind this pretext, Washington analysts identify another strategy: increase pressure on the Government of Nicolás Maduro and, ultimately, force a regime change.
Naval deployment to the Caribbean began at the end of August and has been increasing since then. The incorporation of Gerald Ford the largest aircraft carrier of the US Navy, marked a turning point a couple of weeks ago in the operations against these alleged drug boats. Since last Monday, in addition, the State Department officially classifies the so-called Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization, a criminal network with diffuse contours at the head of which it places Maduro himself, for which the US authorities offer a reward, doubled during the summer, of 50 million dollars.
In parallel to the military escalation, Trump has launched messages this week that hint at the possibility of a negotiation between the White House and the leadership of Chavismo. The president suggested that he would be willing to talk to the Bolivarian leader to “save lives,” but added that if things do not work out “the right way” he would have no problem achieving his goal “the hard way.”
It is not yet clear whether that conversation between the two leaders will occur. Much less is there a set date.
The idea that Trump is open to talking indicates that the president of the United States could be doubting a military intervention in Venezuela, despite pressure from his Cabinet, led by Marco Rubio, secretary of state. Both his most loyal fan base, the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, and public opinion in his country are opposed to the idea of intervention abroad. The latest surveys put the percentage of those who would not welcome a war adventure in the Caribbean at 70%.
For his part, Maduro has maintained an ambivalent behavior in recent weeks, at least in public. From frank defiance to a temporizing mood, in his frequent appearances, the Venezuelan president also rebels against the threats of the United States with harangues to the civilian population to mobilize to defend the sovereignty of the Caribbean country that calls for peace and harmony with songs and dances if necessary.
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