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From the Caribbean to the Colombian border: Tensions between Trump and Maduro risk igniting a new war front in Latin America...
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro declared on Monday that he would "constitutionally declare an armed republic" if his country were attacked by forces that the US has deployed in the Caribbean.
His statement came at a press conference as Washington is expected to increase its naval presence off Venezuela's coast this week, under the pretext of fighting Latin American drug cartels. The US has given no indication of any ground landings, but Maduro's government has mobilized troops on the coast and the border with Colombia, and has also called for recruitment into a civilian militia.
"Faced with this maximum military pressure, we have declared the highest readiness for the defense of Venezuela," Maduro said, calling the US deployment "an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat."
US forces in the Caribbean
The U.S. Navy already has two guided-missile destroyers, the USS Gravely and the USS Jason Dunham, in the Caribbean, and the USS Sampson and the cruiser USS Lake Erie in waters off Latin America. A defense official told the AP that the presence will be expanded this week with three amphibious assault ships carrying more than 4,000 Marines and sailors.
This operation is part of Donald Trump's policy to use the military in the fight against cartels that he accuses of trafficking fentanyl and other drugs to the US, as well as of violence in American cities.
Caracas' reaction
Foreign Minister Yván Gil, citing a UN report, told regional counterparts that the American narrative is false. He pointed out that 87% of the cocaine produced in Colombia is shipped across the Pacific Ocean, while only 5% passes through Venezuela. “This narrative threatens the entire region and an attack on Venezuela would bring total destabilization,” Gil warned during a virtual meeting of CELAC countries.
Maduro also used the conference to reiterate his claim that he was the legitimate winner of last year's presidential election, even though overwhelming credible evidence has shown otherwise. The US and other countries do not recognize him as the legitimate president.
He said his government has two channels of communication with the Trump administration, one with the State Department and another with Richard Grenell, the president's special envoy. Meanwhile, he called Secretary of State Marco Rubio "a warlord" who is pushing for the overthrow of the Venezuelan government.
Opposition on the side of the US
Since the July 2024 elections, Venezuela's opposition has called on Washington and international allies to increase pressure on Maduro. Its leader, María Corina Machado, last month thanked Trump and Rubio for sending the warships, calling it a "fair approach" against a government she called a "criminal enterprise."
But Maduro warned Trump that any military intervention would “stain his administration with blood.” “President Donald Trump, the policy of regime change has failed. You cannot impose a new situation on Venezuela,” he said. /Adapted from “Associated Press”
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