WEST PALM BEACH: US President Donald Trump said Friday he has “sort of” made up his mind about Venezuela, as his escalating military deployment in Latin America has ignited concerns about a wider regional conflict.
“I sort of made up my mind,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he traveled to his estate in Florida.
“I can’t tell you what it is, but we made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of stopping drugs from pouring in,” Trump added.
In recent weeks, Washington has deployed warships, fighter jets and thousands of soldiers to Latin America and launched strikes on 21 alleged drug-smuggling boats, killing at least 80 people.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, arrived in Latin America on Tuesday with the stated goal of helping to counter drug trafficking in the region.
But Caracas fears the US military deployment, which also includes F-35 stealth warplanes sent to Puerto Rico and US Navy ships in the Caribbean, is a regime change plot in disguise.
CBS News on Wednesday cited multiple sources as saying senior military officials had presented Trump with updated options for potential operations in Venezuela, including strikes on land.
On November 2, Trump downplayed the prospect of going to war with Venezuela but said the days of Nicolas Maduro — whom he accuses of being a drug lord — were numbered.
Colombia’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro, has also alleged that the ultimate goal of the US deployment is to seize Venezuela’s oil wealth and destabilize Latin America.
Venezuela has announced its own nationwide military deployment to counter the growing US naval presence off its coast.