Venezuelan Officials Denounce Strike
Venezuelan officials have denied strongly the US military attack on a vessel in the Caribbean last week that killed 11 individuals. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who is a senior member of President Nicolas Maduro’s governing party, declared that the victims were not members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, as US officials had alleged.
“They publicly admitted to having murdered 11 individuals,” Cabello stated on national TV. “Our inquiries and investigations with the families of victims affirm that none were working for Tren de Aragua or drugs. An innocent citizen has been murdered.”
Cabello asked why the US established there was an illegal drug on board the boat and why the victims were not arrested but assassinated. The government of Venezuela also alleged that a video posted by former President Donald Trump of the strike had been doctored with artificial intelligence (AI).
US and Venezuela at Odds
The Trump administration had labelled the operation as an anti-narcotics crackdown and referred to those on the boat as “evil narco-terrorists” who were said to be trying to smuggle drugs and put Americans at risk. White House official Anna Kelly also ridiculed Maduro’s legitimacy, labelling him a “fugitive.”
Though the Pentagon did not comment further, the US has recently expanded its military deployment in the southern Caribbean. Ten F-35 fighter jets were sent to a Puerto Rico airfield as part of what the Trump administration describes as an effort to disrupt routes used for smuggling drugs.
Responding, Maduro declared Thursday that Venezuela is mobilizing military, police, and civilian personnel to 284 “battlefront” positions throughout the country. Delivering his remarks from Ciudad Caribia, he threatened that the nation is ready for armed conflict if there is no other way. “Along all the coasts of Venezuela, from the Colombian border to the east, north, and south, we have complete preparation of official troops,” Maduro said, standing alongside Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez.
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His administration has also increased military personnel on the Colombian border, a major drug-trafficking corridor, by 25,000 troops. Even Maduro’s threat did not result in large numbers of troop movements into a number of cities seen by Reuters journalists.
Escalating tensions have been running since the US doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million on suspected cocaine trafficking links. Maduro himself still denies any role in drug production or trafficking.
