US President Donald Trump has once again stated that the US military will begin carrying out strikes on land targets in Latin America to combat drug cartels.
Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the US leader noted that as a result of the US military's measures, drug smuggling into the US by sea has been "reduced by 96%.“
“96%, just think about it. Now we're going to do it on land“, Trump added, referring to the possibility of strikes on land targets related to drug cartels. “It's actually going to be easier on land“, he stressed during a winter holiday address to US troops stationed abroad.
In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly stated that Washington will begin to combat drug smuggling from Latin America on land. He specifically hinted that the US could launch strikes on Venezuelan territory. Trump claims that the US side has detailed information about drug trafficking routes in the region.
Washington accuses Caracas of not being active enough in the fight against drug smuggling. As reported by the “New York Times“ in August, Trump signed a classified directive to begin the use of military force against Latin American drug cartels. Subsequently, significant additional US forces were deployed to the Caribbean, including a strike group led by the aircraft carrier “Gerald R. Ford“. In recent months, the US military has destroyed more than 20 boats off the coast of Latin America under the pretext of combating drug smuggling, killing nearly 100 people. After one of these strikes Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the U.S. operation killed a fisherman from his country, not a drug trafficker.
On December 16, Trump announced that he had ordered the blockade of all sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela. The American leader said that the United States considers the Venezuelan government a “foreign terrorist organization“.