President of the United States Donald Trump announced on 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 successful.
"In recent weeks, you have been working to detain Venezuelan drug traffickers, and there are many of them," the head of state said. He justified the bombings by stating that the alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers "are sending their poison to the United States, where they kill thousands of people a year."
"Of course, not many are coming by sea anymore," the president told the Army soldiers.
The president, who did not detail what the land actions would entail, highlighted the attacks in the Caribbean and the Pacific from Florida, 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.
"Probably you have noticed that people no longer want to deliver (the drugs) by sea, and we will start to detain them by land. Nevertheless, Trump has insisted before that he has not yet decided to bomb infrastructure in Venezuela or attack Maduro, with whom he 'could speak to save many lives,' as he expressed on Tuesday. A conversation that would be 'welcome,' according to Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab.
His statements come amid growing tension between Venezuela and the United States, which since November 16 has deployed the USS Gerald R. Ford, its largest aircraft carrier, in the Caribbean, and on Monday declared the 'Cartel of the Suns' organization a terrorist group, linking it to Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro.
"We have already stopped 85% (of the flow) by sea," he indicated.
"But we are going to take care of the situation. We have almost stopped it. We warned them to stop sending poison to our country," Trump declared in a Thanksgiving call with military personnel.
American B-52H bomber aircraft conducted demonstrations in the Caribbean on Monday, as revealed by the U.S. Air Force on Wednesday.
