Trump says US will be ‘starting’ land strikes on drug operations in Latin America

US President Donald Trump said the US would be “starting” land strikes on drug operations in Latin America, though he again declined to provide details on when and where the escalation of his military campaign would actually begin, or if countries could still do anything to avert the threatened action.

“We knocked out 96 per cent of the drugs coming in by water, and now we’re starting by land, and by land is a lot easier, and that’s going to start happening,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on Dec 12.

The US President has for days been pledging to broaden the effort, which comes after the Pentagon has launched a series of attacks on what it has called

drug-smuggling boats

in international waters off the coast of South America.

While Mr Trump’s posturing has largely been seen as a

pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro,

on Dec 12 he insisted the land targeting may not only impact Venezuela.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be in Venezuela,” he said, adding that “people that are bringing in drugs to our country are targets.” 

Mr Trump has justified the actions in part by framing the fight against drug smuggling as akin to combat operations. He told reporters that if overdose deaths were counted like combat deaths, it would be “like a war that would be unparalleled”.

Striking targets on land would represent a major escalation, and Mr Maduro earlier this week said that if his nation came under foreign attack, the working class should mount a “general insurrectionary strike” and push for “an even more radical revolution”. 

The US leader’s comments come as the shock waves intensified from the

Trump administration’s seizure of an oil tanker

earlier this week.

That escalation came on the heels of a large-scale US military build-up in the southern Caribbean as Mr Trump campaigns to oust Mr Maduro, pushing relations to their most volatile point in years.

The effects could ripple through the region, with Venezuelan oil exports falling sharply and crisis-stricken Cuba, already straining to power its grid, at risk of losing supply.

The US seizure of the Skipper tanker off Venezuela’s coast on Dec 10 marked the first US capture of Venezuelan oil cargo since sanctions were imposed in 2019.

The vessel is now heading to Houston, where it will offload its cargo onto smaller ships, Reuters reported.

The Trump administration does not recognise Mr Maduro, in power since 2013, as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

Washington has signalled more seizures are planned as part of efforts to choke off sanctioned oil flows, and subsequently imposed new sanctions on three nephews of Mr Maduro’s wife and six tankers linked to them.

The Venezuelan government has denied the accusations that the country ships narcotics to the United States.

So far there have been over 20 US military strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific against suspected drug vessels this year, in which nearly 90 people have been killed, alarming human rights advocates and stirring debate among US lawmakers.

While many Republicans have backed the campaign, Democrats have questioned whether the campaign is illegal and urged more transparency, including the release of a full, unedited video of strikes on a suspected drug-trafficking boat.

Machado defies ban, urges transition

Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Dec 12 promised political change after slipping out of the country in secret to collect the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ms Machado defied a decade-long travel ban and a period in hiding to travel to Oslo on Dec 11, noting that she would soon bring the Nobel Peace Prize back home to Venezuela.

She said Mr Maduro would leave power “whether there is a negotiated changeover or not,” vowed she is focused on a peaceful transition, and thanked Mr Trump for his “decisive support”.

Ms Machado is aligned with US hardliners who accuse Mr Maduro of ties to criminal networks - claims that US intelligence has reportedly questioned.

When asked at a press conference in Oslo if she believed US intervention was needed in Venezuela, Ms Machado replied: “We are asking the world to help us.”

Venezuela condemned the tanker seizure as “blatant theft” and “international piracy,” saying it would file complaints with international bodies.

At the same time, Venezuelan lawmakers took a step to withdraw the country from the International Criminal Court, which is currently investigating alleged human rights abuses in the South American country.

Adding to the friction, the Venezuelan government announced the suspension of a US migrant repatriation flight on Dec 12. A US official countered that deportation flights would continue. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS