In the fight against drug cartels, US President Donald Trump says he does not intend to carry out any attacks within Venezuela for the time being. When asked on his flight to Florida whether he was considering such maneuvers, he said: “No, that’s not true.” However, it remained unclear whether this means that US attacks are off the table in the future or whether Trump has just not yet made a final decision about it.
The media had previously reported, citing informed people, that a US strike in Venezuela could occur in the near future. The aim was to target military facilities that were allegedly used for drug smuggling, according to the daily newspaper “Miami Herald” and the “Wall Street Journal”.
Donald Trump has been attacking alleged drug boats for weeks
In the past few weeks, Trump has repeatedly made it clear publicly that he wants to take consistent action against drug cartels. “I think we’ll just kill people who bring drugs into our country,” he said. Trump also brought up operations on land without explicitly mentioning Venezuela. He did not give any details. The Republican also made it public that he had approved covert operations by the US foreign secret service CIA in Venezuela.
For weeks, the USA has been attacking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific that are said to have transported drugs. Dozens of people are said to have been killed. In many cases, the US government made a connection to Venezuela. The approach drew a lot of criticism, also because the Trump administration did not provide any legal basis for its actions. The United Nations called on Trump’s government to show restraint.
Drug smugglers are “unlawful combatants”
US media reported that the president assessed the situation as meaning that the United States was in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. The US government classifies the drug cartels and suspected smugglers associated with them as “unlawful combatants”. Most recently, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who now calls himself Secretary of War, ordered that the world’s largest aircraft carrier be relocated to the region.
