Tensions are skyrocketing in the Caribbean. What began as a US war against Venezuelan drug traffickers could become yet another front in a global conflict, with Caracas reportedly seeking help from Russia, China, and Iran in response to the US threat.
After weeks of Pentagon attacks on alleged drug vessels off the coast of Venezuela and Colombia, which have resulted in the deaths of at least 62 people (raids described as "unacceptable" by the UN), Washington is now reportedly considering an escalation with targeted raids on military facilities in the country led by Nicolas Maduro.
According to rumors from the Wall Street Journal, in fact, the targets have already been identified, but no final decision has been made.
Potential targets include military-controlled ports and airports used for drug transportation, as well as naval facilities.
"The president has been clear in his message to Maduro: Stop sending drugs and criminals into our country," said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly. "The president is prepared to use every tool at his disposal to prevent drugs from invading our country." And, in anticipation of possible attacks on Venezuelan soil, the U.S. administration has launched an awareness campaign to portray Maduro as the leader of a drug trafficking organization aiming to "flood" the United States with drugs .
“In Venezuela we have a narco-state run by a cartel,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has taken a central role in the pressure campaign on the country, told reporters last week.
When questioned by journalists, however, Trump slowed down and denied, at least clearly, that he had no intention of attacking the South American country . Meanwhile, according to leaks from the Washington Post, the Venezuelan president has not stood idly by but has begun rallying his closest allies, as well as Washington's 'enemies .' First, he wrote a letter to Vladimir Putin , asking for help against American raids on ships in the Caribbean Sea. Then he sent an . In a message directed to President Xi Jinping, he called for "broader military cooperation" between the two countries to counter "the escalation between the United States and Venezuela." . And he presented the aggression in Caracas as "an action against" Beijing "because of their shared ideology."
