The United States plans to classify a cartel that it says Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro runs as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday, as tensions soar between the two countries.
WASHINGTON – The Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group has moved into the Latin America region, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Tuesday, dramatically escalating a military buildup in the Caribbean that has stoked tensions with Venezuela.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declined to say whether the U.S. is preparing military strikes on Venezuela, while blasting Democrats over the ongoing shutdown that has delayed the federal government from paying U.S. troops.
The US military is deploying an aircraft carrier to the waters near South America as the Trump administration continues its military buildup in the Caribbean and its push toward war with Venezuela.
U.S. intelligence has assessed that little to none of the fentanyl trafficked to the United States is being produced in Venezuela, despite recent claims from the Trump administration, a senior U.S. official directly familiar with the matter tells Drop Site.
The U.S. flew Air Force B-1 bombers near Venezuela on Thursday, stepping up pressure on President Nicolás Maduro only days after other American warplanes carried out an “attack demonstration” near the South American country.
President Trump on Wednesday suggested that US strikes on alleged drug shipments “on land” could be coming soon amid the US bombing campaign targeting boats in Latin America.
The head of US Southern Command, the military commander overseeing US escalations in the Caribbean and the push toward an attempt at regime change in Venezuela, is stepping down, the Pentagon announced on Thursday.
Family members and neighbours have identified two men from Trinidad and Tobago who are believed to be among six people killed in a US airstrike on a boat allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela.
Venezuela’s autocrat had proposed allocating his country’s oil wealth and other natural resources to the U.S. and ending deals with American adversaries to appease President Trump.
The Trump administration is working on a strategy to “eliminate” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to a report from POLITICO’s National Security Daily.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his security forces prevented a “false flag operation” to plant explosives at the United States Embassy in the capital Caracas in order to heighten tensions with Washington, amid a US military build-up off the coast of the Latin American country.
The push by top aides to President Trump to remove Nicolás Maduro as the leader of Venezuela has intensified in recent days, with administration officials discussing a broad campaign that would escalate military pressure to try to force him out, U.S. officials say.
WASHINGTON — U.S. military officials are drawing up options to target drug traffickers inside Venezuela, and strikes within that country’s borders could potentially begin in a matter of weeks, four sources told NBC News.
The Pentagon has summoned military officials from around the world for a gathering in Virginia. Even top generals and their staffs don’t know the reason for the meeting.
US officials have told The New York Times that the real goal of the US military buildup in the Caribbean, and the bombing of boats in the region, is regime change in Venezuela.
The U.S. military has sent at least two MQ-9 Reaper drones to the Caribbean in recent weeks, the latest bit of air power deployed to the region since August.
The Trump administration is weighing additional military options against Venezuela if the regime of Nicolás Maduro doesn’t step up pressure on drug cartels, military sources tell me.
