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If confirmed, it would be the first American ground intervention in this South American country since the start of its campaign of military operations in the Caribbean.
In a conversation with billionaire John Catsimatidis, his supporter and owner of WABC radio, Trump said last Friday (12/26) that the United States had “destroyed” a drug factory in Venezuela.
“I don’t know if you’ve read it or seen it, but they have a big factory, a big facility that the boats come out of, and we destroyed it two nights ago,” Trump said in a radio call.
Asked on Monday (12/29) about the alleged attack, Trump said: “There was a big explosion in the dock area where the drugs are loaded onto the ships. So we attacked all the ships and now we’re attacking the area. It’s an area of operations. That’s where they operate. And that doesn’t exist anymore.”
Trump did not specifically mention Venezuela when he spoke to WABC, but U.S. media outlets such as the New York Times spoke to government sources who confirmed the president was referring to a drug factory in Venezuela.
Neither the American armed forces, nor the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), nor the White House have commented on this information, according to the newspaper.
The Venezuelan government has also not confirmed any US attacks on its territory.
In recent months, the United States has attacked dozens of ships in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, claiming they were carrying drugs, without presenting any evidence.
More than a hundred people died in the attacks — which several legal experts call illegal and which Trump’s critics call extrajudicial killings.
The United States also mobilized a large naval force in the Caribbean, moving its largest and most modern aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, there in the midst of so-called Operation Southern Spear.
Shortly before, the United States had seized one of these ships, the tanker Skipper, and has since intercepted a second ship, the Centuries, and pursued a third, the Bella 1.
Oil or drugs?
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Oil is a key source of revenue for the Venezuelan government, and the US embargo was seen as a form of pressure against Nicolas Maduro’s government.
Although Trump initially cited drug trafficking as the reason for the military campaign against Venezuela and claimed it was aimed at stopping the flow of drugs to the United States, the focus gradually shifted to oil and the push for regime change in the South American country.
“Every time I destroy a ship, I save 25,000 American lives,” Trump told WABC, without explaining how he arrived at that figure.
He also claimed that drug trafficking into the United States had been reduced by “97.2%” – again, without presenting any evidence.
Catsimatidis asked whether Venezuela would supply more oil to the United States if Nicolás Maduro leaves power, to which Trump responded: “It’s about a lot of things.
The bombing campaign against boats would be followed, as Donald Trump himself announced, by a second phase of land operations against targets linked to drug production.
In October, Trump confirmed that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
The United States also announced that it had classified as a terrorist organization the Cartel de los Soles, which was, according to the accusations of the Donald Trump government, led by Nicolás Maduro and other members of his government – something the Venezuelan leader denies.
Designating organizations as terrorist groups gives U.S. law enforcement and military forces more power to attack and dismantle them.
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