President Donald Trump suggested the United States’s recent strikes on drug traffickers in Venezuelan waters will now also be coordinated within its borders.
The Department of War had been striking alleged drug trafficking boats within Venezuela’s vicinity despite the country’s opposition to such activity.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. is “certainly looking at land” strikes in Venezuela “because we’ve got the sea under control.”
He noted the Navy stopped drugs coming from the sea, “but we’re going to stop them by land also.”
Trump also said he authorized CIA operations within Venezuela because the nation “emptied their prisons into the United States of America” and flooded the U.S. with drugs.
Any strikes on Venezuelan land would likely prompt a harsher response from the nation than the public rebukes it has already issued.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused the Trump administration of plotting regime change.
He ordered the mobilization of the military, police, and a civilian militia to defend Venezuela’s “mountains, coasts, schools, hospitals, factories, and markets” on Wednesday.
The president confirmed another strike on a drug vessel off the coast of Venezuela on Tuesday.
TRUMP ANNOUNCES LATEST STRIKE ON DRUG BOAT OFF VENEZUELAN COAST
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known [drug trafficking organization] route. The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike. No U.S. Forces were harmed,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The move comes as the administration enters an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. But any attempt to strike land targets in Venezuela is expected to be viewed as an escalation.
