The president of the United States, Donald Trump, warned this Thursday that the Armed Forces will “very soon” begin to “detain” “Venezuelan drug traffickers” by land, considering that military operations at sea have already been a success.
“Probably you have noticed that people no longer want to deliver (the drugs) by sea, and we will start to detain them by land. Of course, not many are coming by sea anymore,” the president told the Army elements.
The head of state justified the bombings by stating that the supposed Venezuelan drug traffickers “are sending their poison to the United States, where they kill thousands of people a year.”
“But we are going to take care of the situation. We warned them to stop sending poison to our country,” Trump declared in a Thanksgiving call with military personnel.
The Republican, who did not detail what the land actions would consist of, highlighted the attacks in the Caribbean and the Pacific, where U.S. forces have killed more than 80 people by destroying more than 20 boats allegedly linked to drug trafficking, mostly from Venezuela, since September 1. These actions are part of a military deployment that Maduro interprets as an attempt to oust him from power.
Meanwhile, the Chavista leader assured that he is confident of victory if his country declares itself a “republic in arms” and asked Air Force officials to be “alert, ready, and willing” to defend the rights of Venezuela as a nation and a free homeland.
In turn, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez accused the Trump administration of seeking to “isolate” her country and pressure others so that airlines do not fly to Caracas. In this context, she advocated for increasing flights between the Venezuelan capital and Moscow, and vice versa.
Internally, also due to the activity in the Caribbean, Venezuela woke up this Thursday with its air connectivity reduced, after on Wednesday night it fulfilled its warning by announcing the revocation of the concessions for Iberia, TAP, Turkish Airlines, Avianca, Latam Colombia, and Gol, which it accused of “joining the terrorist actions” promoted by the U.S. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which brings together more than 300 airlines worldwide, urged Venezuelan authorities to “reconsider” the revocation of flight concessions.
