Three US warships to be stationed off the coast of Venezuela in so-called fight against ‘narco-terrorists’, according to reports.
Three United States warships ordered to deploy off the coast of Venezuela by US President Donald Trump could arrive by the weekend, according to reports, as Washington sends its military to curb drug trafficking by Latin American crime cartels.
The reported deployment of the warships comes as the Trump administration increases pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, after recently doubling a reward for his arrest to $50m on what the US claims are drug offences linked to cocaine trafficking.
Sources told the Reuters and AFP news agencies on Wednesday that an amphibious squadron consisting of three US Aegis-class guided missile destroyers is heading to the waters off Venezuela and could arrive as early as Sunday.
Two sources briefed on the deployment, and speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima and USS Fort Lauderdale are moving towards the Venezuelan coast and are carrying 4,500 US service members, including 2,200 Marines.
The sources declined to detail the specific mission of the squadron. But they have said that recent deployments are aimed at addressing threats to US national security from specially designated “narco-terrorist” organisations in the region.
Maduro said on Monday that he would be deploying millions of militia members across Venezuela in response to US “threats”, which included the reward for his arrest and the launch of a new anti-drug operation in the Caribbean.
“This week, I will activate a special plan with more than 4.5 million militiamen to ensure coverage of the entire national territory – militias that are prepared, activated and armed,” Maduro said in a televised address.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) cocaine trafficking gang.
The US Department of the Treasury designated the cartel as a global terrorist organisation last month, accusing it of supporting the Venezuelan crime group Tren de Aragua and Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartels, which were also designated foreign terrorist organisations earlier this year.
“President Trump has been very clear and consistent, he’s prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday.
“Maduro, it is the view of this administration, is not a legitimate president; he is a fugitive head of this cartel who has been indicted in the United States for trafficking drugs into this country,” Leavitt said.
Al Jazeera’s Latin America editor, Lucia Newman, reports that Maduro has ordered the grounding of all aerial drones for the next 30 days, “an indication that he might be expecting an attack from the air rather than sea”.
“President Trump’s vow to send warships to the Caribbean and elsewhere in Latin America to stop the flow of drugs to the United States is being seen as more than just a threat to Venezuela. It could apply to many, many countries in this region,” Newman said.
“They say today it may be Venezuela, tomorrow it could be any one of them,” Newman said.
Many in the region are also wondering why Trump has chosen to implement “such an aggressive move in the United States’ backyard while he portrays himself as a global peacemaker”.