ON Trump’s doorstep, civilians have been urged to “take up arms” against the United States after a wave of strikes on drug trafficking cartels.
Tensions are skyrocketing between US and Venezuela – with an “unprecedented” battle escalating between Trump and dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Civilians have been urged to use weapons against Donald Trump’s attacks on ‘violent’ drug trafficking cartels[/caption]
Donald Trump began bombing boats suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean sea[/caption]
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced he is mobilising his nation’s military claiming to have 2.5 million military personnel deployed to defend his country[/caption]
Donald Trump signed an executive order that labelled drug cartels as terrorist organisations[/caption]
US forces have now struck three alleged drug vessels and footage shared by Trump shows the moment three “male narcoterrorists” were killed.
The US president threatened to shoot down Venezuelan jets flying over his warships if they “put us in a dangerous position” – and is said to be drawing up plans for military strikes.
Meanwhile, Maduro moved thousands of troops to the border with Colombia “to ensure peace” – which some suggest is a warning shot to Trump.
And the ruler called on Venezuelans to enlist in militias to “fight the empire”.
In a significant build-up of forces on both sides, the US has deployed eight warships to the Caribbean and Pacific, while Maduro launched his own fleet of vessels.
Carlos Solar, a Senior Research Fellow for Latin American Security at the Royal United Services Institute, warned: “You don’t build that much power in the sea if you’re not going to use it.”
Speaking to The Sun, he said: “It’s a move from rhetoric into military attacks – into drug traffickers who have been entering international waters, and then they’ve been gunned down by different US forces in the area.
“It’s quite unprecedented in the region. These attacks on these boats, they weren’t the normal.
“Everyone is quite worried about how this might escalate or how the situation between the US and Venezuela might be solved by other non-military ways.
“International law clearly says that military engagements are forbidden.
“But this is not necessarily how states have been confronted, what they call adversaries or enemies.”
He pointed out that Venezuela’s relationship with the US has been in a “downward spiral” since Maduro took power.
“There is little hope that the relationship between President Donald Trump and Nicolás Maduro will get any better,” Solar said.
“What’s happening at the moment – it sets a precedent… which is the use of military power by the US and a presidency of Nicolás Maduro, who doesn’t have too many allies in the region.”
The international spat began on Inauguration Day earlier this year when Trump signed an executive order that labelled drug cartels as terrorist organisations.
Under the order, the White House can authorise military engagement if “narco-terrorists” use the Caribbean Sea – and are warned that if they use the waterway, they will be confronted by the US military.
Trump has accused his Venezuelan counterpart of being complicit in “mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere”.
During Trump’s first term in the office, Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials were indicted in federal court in New York on several charges including participating in a “narco-terrorism” conspiracy.
Investigators say Maduro’s cartel worked hand-in-hand with the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which the US has labeled a terrorist organization.
Maduro has deployed the military across Venezuela to train both enlisted citizens and residents for combat[/caption]
Soldiers take part in a drill led by the Bolivarian National Armed Forces to train citizens in weapons handling[/caption]
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro launched a multi-platform exercise against Trump’s bombings[/caption]
Since returning to power in January, Trump’s attacks on Venezuela have focused on the activities of the South American country’s powerful transnational gangs.
It’s being described as an “enhanced counter narcotics operation” – and Trump has also placed a $50million bounty on Maduro.
“I think Donald Trump has run out of patience,” Solar said.
“It was clearly made an executive order the first day of his mandate.”
Washington accuses Maduro of heading a cocaine trafficking cartel, Cartel de los Soles, which the Trump administration has designated a terrorist organization.
And Maduro has accused Trump of attempting to effect regime change – and launched a drive to sign up thousands of militia members.
In recent weeks, three US destroyers, two landing dock ships, an amphibious assault ship, a cruiser and a littoral combat ship are either in Caribbean or on their way.
And Venezuela’s military is outnumbered by America’s might, Solar said.
He added: “Venezuela militarily is quite outpowered by the US. The US is using just a small force in the South Caribbean, which is enough to clearly draw war on any country in Latin America.
“I don’t think Venezuela is prepared due to the old ageing arsenal that they have… they’re confronting the most powerful military in the world.
“Although the energy and the resources of the United States have always been towards Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific now, the US Southern Command is an unimaginable force that we’ve never seen unleashed in the Americas.”
Outlining whether there will be an escalation between the two nations, Solar said: “If you look purely through the lens of military build-up, the US is clearly going somewhere.
“You don’t build that much power in the sea if you’re not going to use it.”
Women stand next to weapons during a drill after Maduro deployed the military amid rising tensions with the United State[/caption]
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello drives as he takes part in a drill[/caption]
The guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson sails near the Colombian coast[/caption]
He added: “But a war-like type of move is never seen just through the military lens.
“You need to calculate the political factors, diplomatic factors, ways of communication between both countries, whether there are or there aren’t any back channels of diplomacy between the United States and Maduro.”
Major General Chip Chapman, a Senior British Military Advisor, said the worst-case scenario is retaliation from the “narco-terrorists”.
He told The Sun: “Trump 2.0 has always said that he’s going to have a war on crime and a war on drugs, and this is taking what is a different approach.
“It’s highly unusual, and of course, it’s one of those things that you have to be really careful of, because otherwise you could get yourself entangled.
“Although the cartels have been drug, designated as foreign terrorist organizations, that usually leads to legal actions, not military actions, and that’s why this is unusual.
“The worst case scenario is that the narco-terrorists retaliate, and that does lead to over-action by the Americans within Venezuela itself.
“There is no doubt, given the fractured nature of the relationship with Venezuela, that Trump would like to see, President Maduro fall.”
The worst case scenario is that the narco-terrorists retaliate, and that does lead to over-action by the Americans within Venezuela itself
General Chip Chapman
It comes after Trump directly cautioned drug traffickers last week saying: “WE ARE HUNTING YOU.”
The warning followed the release of dramatic footage of a small boat in choppy waters before it was targeted by a US missile.
Trump shared the video to his Truth Social account of the huge boat explosion with 11 people on board.
Two previous strikes have killed 14 people on vessels reportedly from Venezuela.
“The US is not making our job any easier because we don’t know what the ultimate goal of all this movement is,” Solar said.
“We know that the executive order says that there’s a free reign in order to attack now what the US is calling their narco-terrorist adversaries.
“But that’s not a strategy, so we don’t know the fine print of what the US is aiming to do.”
Solar believes the newly-named Department of War will “clearly sign towards military action and some sort of toppling down the Nicolas Maduro government”.
Following Trump’s bombardment, Maduro said he will never let the US president get away with his “threats of bombs, death, and blackmail”.
Maduro also announced he is mobilising his nation’s military – claiming to have 2.5million military personnel deployed to defend Venezuela.
Maduro will hold on unless we’ve seen a radical change in the military strategy and more international and political pressure towards Venezuela from outside forces
Carlos Solar
Maduro won’t back down without a fight, Solar said.
“The military power obviously opens up the imagination that the US is trying to force Maduro out,” he added.
“But… it won’t force Maduro out. Maduro won’t cave into a few boats being gunned down in international waters.
“I think Maduro will hold on unless we’ve seen a radical change in the military strategy and more international and political pressure towards Venezuela from outside forces.”
He added: “Nicolas Maduro can basically protect its own domestic waters, its economic zone. He can move people to the coast. We’ve seen videos of civilians being trained in how to handle weapons.
“He can do all that sort of stuff and just wait.
“The Venezuelan regime of Hugo Chavez plus Nicolas Maduro has always been characterised by supporting, by saying we need to survive one more day, one more month, one more year.
“And that’s how we have two decades of this downward spiral in Venezuela.”
For now, Solar says, it’s too early to predict the direction of the spiralling tensions – but whether Trump’s Department of War could soon make its objectives clearer.
Trump’s war on drugs
By Harvey Geh, Foreign News Reporter
DONALD Trump has launched his full-scale war on drugs – favouring missiles over law enforcement.
The first day of Trump’s second term kicked off with the designation of narcotraffickers as terrorists – giving him the right to kill them before they can reach American shores.
This is the argument he has used in the face of law experts warning that his decision to strike a suspected drug-smuggling boat on Tuesday was illegal.
Washington-watchers claim that the gangsters should have been arrested – but the White House says that law enforcement is ineffective.
Trump vowed after the blitz: “There’s more where that came from.”
The US President has long spoken of his desire to enact force to take on drug cartels, which he accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of actively backing.
Maduro has denied the allegations, and the last few months have seen teetering escalations deteriorate into a tense standoff.
The US has positioned naval destroyers and soldiers around Maduro’s waters, while the Venezuelan dictator has ordered mass mobilisation of troops
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello takes part in a drill led by the Bolivarian National Armed Forces to train citizens in weapon handling[/caption]
President Donald Trump has said US forces carried out a ‘lethal kinetic strike’ on a vessel which he said was trafficking drugs[/caption]
Members of the community have been given military training on weaponry[/caption]
