Strike war: US intensifies attacks on ships near the coast of Venezuela

Washington is strengthening its military presence off the coast of Venezuela and has not stopped attacking ships allegedly involved in transporting drugs to the United States. During the last operation, the United States struck three ships and killed eight people, in total, at least 90 died during the several months of the operation. Meanwhile, the White House continues to threaten a ground operation. How the conflict between Caracas and Washington is developing and whether it is worth waiting for a new round of escalation is in the Izvestia article.

The American operation against drug trafficking

The US operation against drug trafficking from Latin American countries, in particular from Venezuela, has been going on for several months. In a post on the social network X, the United States Southern Command reported that on December 15 they managed to strike three more ships, according to their information, transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean. As a result of this attack, eight people were killed — "male narcoterrorists," the southern command writes in its publication.

Since September, the United States has attacked more than 20 ships in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, killing at least 90 people.

At the same time, the American military presence off the coast of Venezuela continues to grow. The day before, the authorities of Trinidad and Tobago allowed US military aircraft to use their country's airports for transit. According to Washington, the flights will be purely logistical in nature and will involve restocking and scheduled staff rotation. At the end of November, the United States received a similar permit from the authorities of the Dominican Republic.

In addition, according to the Wall Street Journal, fifth-generation F-35A fighter jets, Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, Sikorsky HH-60W helicopters and Lockheed HC-130J aircraft are currently being deployed in Puerto Rico. Earlier, American tanker aircraft designed to refuel fighters and bombers in the air were also deployed to the Dominican Republic.

The White House is motivated by the need to combat drug trafficking. In continuation of this rhetoric, on December 15, Donald Trump even signed a decree recognizing the synthetic drug fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction." At the same time, the American president continues to assert that ground strikes on Venezuela are about to begin.

"Today we see that Trump is acting more inclined towards the option of a naval and air blockade of Venezuela, as he fears a direct invasion due to the high political and military risks associated with this," said the director general of the Latin American Cultural Center. Hugo Chavez by Egor Lidovskaya. — There is no doubt that actions in this direction will be continued. As for the likelihood of a direct ground invasion, it also remains significant, as the United States has achieved impressive victories in Bolivia and Chile, effectively leaving Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia three (if we talk about large states) against the right on the continent.

How do they react to the actions of the United States in Venezuela

Against the background of external threats, Caracas has adjusted and strengthened its defense strategy, President Nicolas Maduro said during a summit meeting of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of America (ALBA).

"Venezuela has experienced 25 weeks of psychological terror, threats of military invasion, pirate attacks and the seizure of a ship with Venezuelan oil, these days the complete rupture of legitimate and diplomatic ways of coexistence in Latin America and the Caribbean," said the leader of Venezuela.

It is not specified exactly what measures were taken, but in early December, the Venezuelan authorities announced the swearing in of 5,600 recruits. The decision, according to government media, was made against the background of "growing imperialist threats." This is all in addition to the already existing 200,000 military personnel and 200,000 police officers.

A particularly acute reaction in Caracas was caused by the recent incident involving the seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker. The American president himself reported on the incident last week, noting that the tanker was seized "for a good reason." Later, the United States explained that the ship had been under sanctions for many years due to its "involvement in an illegal oil transportation network supporting foreign terrorist organizations." In Venezuela, Washington's actions were called piracy.

"The masks are finally torn off. A new era of piracy has begun for the entire Caribbean region. The legends that they are fighting the Tren de Aragua group, drug cartels or someone else have been completely refuted. There was a really illegal and criminal episode. In a peaceful zone, like Caribbean pirates, they surrounded a private merchant ship, landed the military, forcibly restrained the crew and stole the ship," Nicolas Maduro responded to the incident.

There is another message coming from the USA. According to foreign press sources, during a telephone conversation with Nicolas Maduro, Donald Trump directly demanded the resignation of the leader of the Bolivarian Republic. It is reported that the owner of the White House even issued ultimatums — resignation or ground operation.

Meanwhile, Maria Corina Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition and a potential US candidate for the presidency of the Latin American state, has left her country (at least temporarily).

She was supposed to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo last week. However, Machado did not make it to the ceremony, and her daughter had to receive the award and give a speech. This is not the first time that Ana Corina Sosa has represented her mother at major awards.

Out of fear of being caught, Machado used alternative routes. It is reported that in a wig and accompanied by two people, she left Caracas and headed for the northern coast of the country. They sailed on a wooden boat to the island of Curaçao. From there, with a transfer to the USA, she took a plane to Oslo. The journey took about 48 hours in total. And, according to media reports, Washington approved all this. According to interviews Machado gave to journalists in Norway, she already has good relations with the United States. The oppositionist did not disclose in conversations with journalists what exactly she was talking about with representatives of the United States, but stressed that she and her team have a plan for the first 24 hours and for the first 100 days after coming to power in Venezuela.