U.S. President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that U.S. attacks against drug cartels within Venezuelan territory will begin "very soon," following the operation against boats in the Caribbean, which he links to drug trafficking.
"We know the routes they take. We know everything about them. And then they sell us cocaine. And we're going to start with that very soon too," the president said to the press during a meeting with his cabinet at the White House.
The president mentioned last week that his Armed Forces would act "very soon" on land against supposed Venezuelan drug traffickers and announced that pilots and airlines must consider Venezuelan airspace "closed in its entirety."
An attack on Venezuelan territory would be part of the operation baptized by the Pentagon as "Southern Lance" and which has so far destroyed two dozen vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific, extrajudicially killing more than 80 supposed drug traffickers.
Trump's Warning to Other Countries Trump warned that any country that produces and traffics drugs to the U.S. "is subject to attacks," suggesting that Colombia could also be included in land operations against drug trafficking.
"I've heard that Colombia, the country of Colombia, produces cocaine. We know where the bad guys live. Anyone who does that and sells it to our country is subject to attacks, not necessarily just Venezuela," he said.
Pentagon's Defense Meanwhile, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson defended the U.S. attacks as legal, saying the people traveling on these boats are "terrorists" whom, she said, intelligence teams have identified.
"Our intelligence confirms without a doubt who these people are, but I can't reveal from this podium how we know it. We know what they're carrying, where they're from, and where they're going. Their goal is to bring drugs to the shores of the U.S.," Wilson said.
She added that all of their military and civilian lawyers know that these people are terrorists.
In response to a question about whether he saw survivors, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he did not and criticized the press for spreading information that "is not based on the truth." He also stated that the destruction of boats supposedly loaded with drugs has saved "thousands of lives" in the U.S.
When asked by a journalist if "Maduro offered to resign," Trump replied that "he will," leaving everything in suspense.
