Tensions between the United States and Venezuela have reached alarming new heights after former President Donald Trump accused Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro of being tied to one of the country’s most dangerous cartels.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew directly over the USS Jason Dunham, a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, in what officials described as a “highly provocative” show of force. The incident happened in international waters and was seen as an attempt to disrupt U.S. counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean.
This development came shortly after Trump announced that the U.S. military had carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-smuggling vessel linked to the notorious Tren de Aragua gang. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the cartel operates with the support of President Maduro’s regime an assertion that has been disputed by a declassified U.S. intelligence report.
In a strongly worded statement, the Pentagon referred to Maduro’s government as “the cartel running Venezuela” and warned against any further attempts to interfere with U.S. operations targeting narco-terrorism.
The Trump administration also recently doubled its reward for Maduro’s capture to $50 million, escalating pressure on Caracas. In response, Maduro denounced the presence of U.S. warships near Venezuela as a “criminal and bloody threat” and ordered drones and naval patrols to monitor the coastline.
Trump claimed that the U.S. strike killed 11 individuals onboard the vessel, posting a video of the explosion on his social media platform. He emphasized that the operation targeted drug traffickers in international waters and warned that any attempt to smuggle narcotics into the United States would face a similar response.
This confrontation highlights a dangerous escalation in U.S.–Venezuelan relations, raising fears of further military standoffs in the region.
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