Donald Trump is considering targeting cocaine production facilities and drug trafficking routes inside Venezuela. CNN reports this, citing three US officials.
Yesterday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Navy’s most advanced carrier strike group, currently stationed in Europe, to head for the Caribbean region, amid a massive buildup of U.S. forces and potential military escalation.
Trump has not ruled out taking a diplomatic approach with Venezuela to stem the flow of drugs into the United States, the sources said, despite the administration halting talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela is not known for being a major source of cocaine, but the Trump administration has tried to link Maduro to drug trafficking. Almost all coca cultivation is concentrated in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.
In a report by the US Drug Enforcement Administration published in March, in the four pages dedicated to cocaine trafficking, Venezuela is not mentioned, citing Ecuador, Mexico and Central American nations among the producing countries.
However, the Trump administration continues to maintain that some drug trafficking passes through Venezuela, and that Maduro was indicted in 2020 on federal charges of narcoterrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine.
According to sources cited by the broadcaster, numerous options have been presented to the President and planning is underway at government level.
According to CNN, the attacks inside Venezuela that Trump is considering are part of a broader strategy aimed at weakening Maduro.