With the American media transmitting information and leaks that the , which for days have been gathering – under the pretext of operations against the drug cartels – important military forces in front of it, are preparing to proceed immediately with strikes against military installations on Venezuelan territory, the president of the country, addressed an appeal to, and to equip and support him militarily.
Is Trump in denial to maintain the element of surprise?
These developments come despite the fact that US President Donald Trump himself denied the reports and information, claiming that he is not considering attacks inside Venezuela.
According to the American media, the upcoming US operation – which Trump is probably not confirming in order not to lose the element of surprise – will aim to dismantle the Cartel de los Soles management structure and will target military installations that, according to the US side, protect the regime’s drug-trafficking activities.
The US has amassed massive forces
The US campaign in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific has already struck at least 14 vessels that Washington claims were involved in drug trafficking, killing 61 people. Trump a few days ago did not announce that he has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. The United States has developed a large military presence in the Caribbean in recent months, with fighter jets, warships and thousands of troops. That presence will be greatly expanded in the coming weeks with the arrival of the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group.
“References to Maduro will be in the past tense”
Despite the fact that the exact time of the start of the – possible – ground attacks is unclear, American officials claim that they could begin very soon. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the senior Republican senator, said on Sunday that Trump had told him the administration planned to brief lawmakers on military operations against Venezuela and Colombia when he returned from his trip to Asia. Trump returned yesterday.
A US official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the military had provided a range of options, including attacks on military installations inside Venezuela, such as airstrips. Another official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told the New York Post that “soon any reference to Nicolas Maduro will be in the past tense.”
Maduro’s response
With news of an imminent US attack on Venezuela and US forces gathering, Maduro has not been sitting idly by. Last week Russia ratified a strategic partnership agreement with Venezuela, while documents cited by US media show that the Venezuelan president has sent letters to Putin, Xi Jinping and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asking them to help him militarily. According to the relevant reports, Maduro has asked Putin, among other things, to upgrade defense radars, repair aircraft and supply missiles, from Xi Jinping, “expanded military cooperation” in order to counter the “escalation between the United States and Venezuela” and specifically more radars, while from Iran he has asked for “passive tracking systems”, “GPS jammers” and “certainly drones with range of 1,000 kilometers’.
Venezuela’s opposition is divided over an imminent US intervention
Faced with the possibility of US military intervention, the opposition in Venezuela appears divided over whether or not it supports such a development.
One group, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, appears to support US intervention, arguing that Maduro poses a direct threat to US national security and that the only way to remove him from power is through “American pressure”. She made these statements in an interview with Bloomberg.
On the other hand, former presidential candidate Enrique Capriles rejects US armed intervention and supports the resumption of negotiations with the Maduro government and Trump, despite the limited success of previous talks.
This split, despite the government’s crackdown on the opposition through arrests, exiles and legal prosecutions, is disconcerting to many opposition supporters at home and abroad.
