Now Trump has threatened ‘land-based strikes’ on Venezuelan territory

US American military forces reportedly attacked two more Venezuelan vessels in international waters near the South American nation on 3 and 4 October. This brings the total number of similar strikes to four, with at least 21 people dead.

‘Without a doubt’

War secretary Pete Hegseth posted on Twitter that:

The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics – headed to America to poison our people.

He also said of Friday’s strike:

Our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route.

These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!

Venezuela’s interior minister Diosdado Cabello previously stated that the 11 individuals killed in America’s first such attack were not gang members. Cabello said:

They openly confessed to killing 11 people… We have done our investigations here in our country and there are the families of the disappeared people who want their relatives, and when we asked in the towns, none were from Tren de Aragua, none were drug traffickers. A murder has been committed against a group of citizens using lethal force.

Experts have also stated that the US attacks are likely to be violations of international law. On Thursday, a leaked US government memo framed its strikes as a “non-international armed conflict”. This appears to be a flagrant attempt to justify the use of wartime powers – although this still would not permit the killing of civilian non-combatants.

‘We’ll have to start looking by land’, says Trump

Speaking at Naval Station Norfolk on Sunday, Trump also appeared to threaten a land attack on Venezuela, in an escalation of his attacks on vessels in international waters. He told the assembled crowd:

In recent weeks, the Navy has supported our mission to blow the cartel terrorists the hell out of the water … we did another one last night. Now we just can’t find any.

They’re not coming in by sea any more, so now we’ll have to start looking about the land because they’ll be forced to go by land.

On 11 September, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro stated that his country was prepared for armed conflict. The South American leader said he would deploy military, police and civilian defences at 284 locations across the country. Reuters reported that citizens had noticed the increased visibility of troops in cities across Venezuela.

‘This doesn’t intimidate us’

Then, last week, Venezuelan air defences also detected the US combat aircraft just 46 miles from the nation’s shores. Defence Minister General Vladimir Padrino told Agencia Venezuela that:

We’re watching them, I want you to know. And I want you to know that this doesn’t intimidate us. It doesn’t intimidate the people of Venezuela.

The presence of these planes flying close to our Caribbean Sea is a vulgarity, a provocation, a threat to the security of the nation.

I denounce before the world the military harassment, the military threat by the US government against the people of Venezuela, who want peace, work and happiness.

Air traffic control at a major civilian airport and a commercial airliner also corroborated the presence of the F-35 fighters, which remained just outside of Venezuelan airspace. A joint statement from Venezuela’s foreign and defence ministries stated that Venezuela:

urges US Secretary of War Peter Hegseth to immediately cease his reckless, thrill-seeking and warmongering posture.

Trump’s jingoism not only risks war with Venezuela, but is also stoking anger in Russia. After a phone call between Venezuela and Russia’s foreign secretaries, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs put out a statement of support:

The ministers expressed serious concern about Washington’s escalating actions in the Caribbean Sea that are fraught with far-reaching consequences for the region.

The Russian side has confirmed its full support and solidarity with the leadership and people of Venezuela in the current context.

Featured image via the Canary