“In the past few weeks, you’ve done an incredible job stopping a large number of Venezuelan drug traffickers,” Trump said on November 27 during a virtual Thanksgiving address to U.S. service members. “Have you noticed there aren’t many drug smugglers coming by sea anymore?”
According to Trump, U.S. military raids targeting drug-carrying boats off the Venezuelan coast have “disrupted about 85% of their smuggling activity.”
“They don’t want to move drugs by sea anymore, so now we’re going to block them on land. Interdiction on land is easier, and it will begin soon,” he said. It remains unclear whether the president’s comments imply potential U.S. ground operations inside Venezuela or the use of long-range precision strikes.
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Trump also accused drug traffickers of killing “hundreds of thousands of Americans every year” through narcotics distribution. “We’re warning them to stop sending poison into our country,” he said.
Previously, Trump said he was open to dialogue with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but also did not rule out the possibility of intervention. Tensions between Washington and Caracas have escalated in recent months as the U.S. increases its military presence in the Caribbean, citing an ongoing “war” against cartel groups designated as terrorist organizations.
Meanwhile, Venezuela has accused the United States of preparing an intervention to overthrow Maduro and conducting military exercises as part of these preparations.
At least 83 people have been killed in U.S. raids on “drug-smuggling boats” since the Caribbean maritime operation began in September.