Venezuela continues to be on high alert given the growing number of US military assets parked off its coast in the southern Caribbean. Venezuelan Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino has recently said "We’re watching them, I want you to know. And I want you to know that this doesn’t intimidate us. It doesn’t intimidate the people of Venezuela."
He noted that American military "planes flying close to our Caribbean Sea is a vulgarity, a provocation, a threat to the security of the nation" - further calling it "military harassment."
This comes as President Trump updated Congress on the situation in a memo this week. It stated the US was now in "a non-international armed conflict" with the cartels, which his administration earlier designated as terrorist organizations.
Sufficient Pentagon forces have been assembled which would allow for the capture a strategic infrastructure in Venezuela, such as a port or airport, fresh reports say.
Additionally, there's this fresh development previewed in Newsweek: "a platoon of U.S. Navy SEALs—typically comprising 16 personnel—will conduct joint drills this month with approximately 40 Argentine tactical divers," according to a US Southern Command spokesperson.
The same publication lists five signs that possible war with Venezuela could be looming:
- F-35B Jets in Puerto Rico
- Pentagon Imagery
- Cargo and Naval Deployments
- Special Operations
- US military units in the Caribbean
All of this also allowed The Washington Examiner to speculate in a major Thursday report, saying it "understands that military planners believe the assembled forces are now sufficient to seize and hold key strategic facilities such as ports and airfields on Venezuelan territory (the Washington Examiner is withholding some details for national security reasons)."
It adds: "US control over such locations would allow for the increased, sustained projection of U.S. military power into Venezuela from defensible positions."
1 comment:
Would be a good excuse for Trump to stay out of the conflict in Ukraine. I don’t think he really wants to be involved in that war. He does not like any of the parties involved and it isn’t in what he considers to be his backyard. He is territorial in the sense he considers the drug trade as an attack on his territory. The Middle East is something those around him push as a concern, but I get the sense he really does not want to be involved in that. Centuries old conflict either and BiBi appears to be rubbing him the wrong way getting on his nerves. The powers circling him like vultures ready to feast will keep him focused upon the Middle East even if he would like to put that one to bed.
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