United States President Donald Trump has dismissed reports that his administration is planning strikes inside Venezuela, despite a major U.S. military deployment to the Caribbean that has raised regional tensions.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump flatly denied suggestions that Washington was considering military action against Venezuela. “No,” he said when asked if reports about planned strikes were true.
His comments appeared to contradict statements he made earlier this month suggesting that the United States might take direct action against individuals or groups allegedly linked to drug trafficking. “I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country,” he said in remarks last week.
The U.S. military has stationed fighter jets, warships, and thousands of troops in the Caribbean, with the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest warship, en route to waters near Venezuela. Washington has described the operation as part of a broader effort to combat drug smuggling in the region.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump’s denial, accusing journalists of spreading false information. Responding to an article in the Miami Herald, Rubio wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Your ‘sources’ claiming to have ‘knowledge of the situation’ tricked you into writing a fake story.”
Since early September, U.S. forces have carried out a series of strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing at least 62 people and destroying 14 boats and one semi-submersible, according to official statements. The Trump administration maintains that the targets were drug smugglers, though it has not provided evidence to support that claim.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned the operations, calling them “unacceptable” and urging Washington to halt extrajudicial killings at sea. “The U.S. must take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them,” Türk said in a statement on Friday.
The U.S. build-up has alarmed nearby countries. On Friday, Trinidad and Tobago placed its military on “STATE ONE ALERT LEVEL,” recalling all personnel to their bases after hosting a U.S. warship earlier in the week. Police officials confirmed that all leave had been suspended “until further notice.”
The move came days after Venezuela suspended a major gas deal with Trinidad and Tobago, accusing the island nation of “colluding” with the United States. Trinidad and Tobago’s government said the visit of the U.S. destroyer USS Gravely was part of “regular, planned joint military exercises.”
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has denounced the U.S. actions as part of what he called “a fabricated eternal war” against his government. “Venezuela does not produce cocaine leaves,” Maduro said last week, rejecting U.S. claims about drug smuggling and noting that most narcotics entering the U.S. come through its land border with Mexico.
Africa Digital News, New York
