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>>23765610, >>23765729, >>23765730 Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group ordered to the Caribbean.
Dozens of US military assets have been deployed in the Caribbean
The United States has deployed more than 4,500 Marines and sailors, along with a significant portion of its naval and air assets in the Caribbean, to strengthen operations against cartels and demonstrate military power in the region
USS Iwo Jima
Wasp-class amphibious assault ship
Trump considering plans to target cocaine facilities inside Venezuela, officials say
By
1418603 CNN Expansion D.C. 2023 - May 24-26, 2023 - Washington, D.C., Alayna Treene
Alayna Treene
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Kylie Atwood
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Katie Bo Lillis
Updated 19 hr ago
The worldÕs largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford steams alongside USNS Laramie (T-AO-203) during a fueling-at-sea in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, as a scheduled deployment in the U.S Naval Forces Europe area of operations, deployed by U.S. Sixth Fleet to defend U.S, allied, and partners interests, in this photo taken on October, 11, 2023 and released by U.S. Navy on October 14, 2023. U.S Naval Forces Central Command / U.S. 6th Fleet / Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY
The world's largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford pictured in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in 2023.
US Naval Forces Central Command/Reuters
President Donald Trump is considering plans to target cocaine facilities and drug trafficking routes inside Venezuela, though he has not yet made a decision on whether to move forward with them, three US officials told CNN.
Outward signs on Friday pointed toward a major potential military escalation, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordering the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier strike group currently stationed in Europe to the Caribbean region amid a massive buildup of US forces there. Trump has also authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
The president has not ruled out taking a diplomatic approach with Venezuela to stem the flow of drugs into the US, two officials said, even after the administration cut off active talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in recent weeks. Venezuela is not known to be a major source of cocaine, but the Trump administration has been aggressively trying to link Maduro to the drug trade.
“There are plans on the table that the president is considering” regarding operations on targets inside Venezuelan, one administration official told CNN, adding that “he hasn’t ruled out diplomacy.”
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Trump considering plans to target cocaine facilities inside Venezuela
A second official, who has been directly involved in some of the discussions, argued that there are many proposals that have been suggested to the president. A third official said the planning is happening across the government, but the focus at the highest levels is currently going after the drugs inside Venezuela.
Trump has escalated his rhetoric on potential land strikes inside Venezuela in recent days, while the US military steadily carries out strikes on alleged drug boats in international waters. The latest was an overnight strike against a boat allegedly smuggling narcotics in the Caribbean, killing six and bringing the total number known of targeted boats to 10 and the number of people killed to 43 since the US began its campaign last month, according to Hegseth.
CNN has previously reported Trump has also been weighing strikes inside Venezuela itself as part of a broader strategy aimed at weakening Maduro, and Trump himself has mused publicly about operations on land. The president, however, has not yet made clear what that would entail, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested drug “routes” might be targeted.
Some administration officials are pushing for regime change and say that the drug campaign could lead to the ouster of Maduro. That could happen by putting pressure on people around the Venezuelan leader who have benefitted from the cartels’ illicit revenue streams, potentially squeezing them so much that they consider ways to oust the Venezuelan leader, sources told CNN. Newly released video shows Maduro, in English, pleading for peace.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Venezuela is not a cocaine-producing country.
Almost all coca crops – the main ingredient of cocaine – are concentrated in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. An annual report from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published in March did not mention Venezuela in the four pages dedicated to cocaine trafficking, citing instead Ecuador, Central America and Mexico.