In an interview with US radio station WABC last Friday, President Donald Trump said the United States had destroyed “a major facility”, without indicating where it was located or explicitly identifying the target. U.S. officials said Trump was referring to an alleged drug production facility in Venezuela, but did not provide details. Military officials said they had no information to share, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) declined to comment, and the White House also declined to comment. Additionally, no attack has been made public by the Venezuelan government or any other authority in the region.
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During the interview with John Catsimatidis, the president’s billionaire supporter and owner of WABC, Trump discussed his military campaign to disrupt drug trafficking from Latin America by attacking ships in the Caribbean suspected of carrying drugs, according to Washington.
— They have a large factory or facility where the ships come from — Trump said, without presenting evidence, specifying the location or confirming Venezuela as the target of the attack. —Two nights ago we ended that.
If Trump’s claims are confirmed, it would be the first known ground attack since the start of the US military campaign against Venezuela. U.S. authorities, despite claiming the facility was linked to drug trafficking, have refused to specify where or how the attack was carried out.
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Although some authorities have listed the facility as a possible drug production site, the role it played in drug trafficking is unclear. Venezuela is indeed known for its involvement in drug trafficking, particularly cocaine produced in Colombia, but it is not a major producer of narcotics.
Trump has been promising ground attacks in Venezuela for weeks as part of a growing pressure campaign on the government of Nicolas Maduro, prosecuted in the United States for its involvement in drug trafficking. The US president even authorized the CIA to begin planning covert operations inside Venezuela.
Since September, Washington has carried out deadly attacks on ships in the Caribbean and the Pacific. The Trump administration says the ships are carrying cocaine. The operations have already caused the death of at least 105 people.
These boat attacks were initially planned as part of a two-phase operation. The second phase, which has not yet been officially announced, would include ground attacks on drug trafficking facilities in Venezuela. At the same time, Trump announced a total blockade of “sanctioned oil tankers” leaving or heading towards Venezuela, in a new escalation of his pressure campaign on Caracas. This measure increases pressure on Maduro, because it aims to suffocate the economy of the South American country, extremely dependent on oil exports.
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