On Sunday, President Donald Trump hinted at the possibility of dialogue with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, suggesting that the U.S. might be open to diplomatic discussions. This comes as the United States bolsters its military presence in the region with the deployment of its state-of-the-art aircraft carrier near Venezuela’s coast.
While Trump refrained from elaborating on the potential talks with Maduro, he mentioned that “Venezuela would like to talk,” indicating a potential opening for communication between the two nations.
The U.S. military has intensified its operations against vessels believed to be involved in drug trafficking. The recent deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford and other naval assets underscores what the U.S. describes as a counter-narcotics mission. However, this military buildup is also perceived as a strategy to increase pressure on Maduro’s government.
When pressed for clarity on his statement about Maduro’s desire to engage in talks, Trump responded, “What does it mean? You tell me, I don’t know,” adding, “I’ll talk to anybody. We’ll see what happens.”
The Venezuelan government has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding these developments. Meanwhile, Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the United States, has accused the U.S. administration of concocting a pretext for conflict against him.
Venezuela’s government didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S., has said the U.S. government is “fabricating” a war against him.
The Ford rounds off the largest buildup of U.S. firepower in the region in generations. With its arrival, the “Operation Southern Spear” mission includes nearly a dozen Navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines.
The carrier’s arrival coincided with the military announcing its latest deadly strike on a small boat it claims was ferrying illegal drugs. The military’s Southern Command posted a video on X on Sunday showing the boat being blown up, an attack it said took place Saturday in international waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean and killed three men. The military did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
Since early September, such strikes by the U.S. in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed at least 83 people in 21 attacks.
The carrier strike group, which includes squadrons of fighter jets and guided-missile destroyers, transited the Anegada Passage near the British Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, the Navy said.
Rear Adm. Paul Lanzilotta, who commands the strike group, said it will bolster an already large force of American warships to “protect our nation’s security and prosperity against narco-terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.”
Adm. Alvin Holsey, the commander who oversees the Caribbean and Latin America, said in a statement that the American forces “stand ready to combat the transnational threats that seek to destabilize our region.”
Holsey, who will retire next month after just a year on the job, said the strike group’s deployment is “a critical step in reinforcing our resolve to protect the security of the Western Hemisphere and the safety of the American Homeland.”
US military holds training exercises in Trinidad and Tobago and Panama
In Trinidad and Tobago, which is only 7 miles from Venezuela at its closest point, government officials said troops have begun “training exercises” with the U.S. military that will run through much of the week.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Sean Sobers described the joint exercises as the second in less than a month and said they are aimed at tackling violent crime on the island nation, which has become a stopover point for drug shipments headed to Europe and North America. The prime minister has been a vocal supporter of the U.S. military strikes.
The exercises will include Marines from the 22nd Expeditionary Unit who have been stationed aboard the Navy ships that have been looming off Venezuela’s coast for months.
Venezuela’s government has described the training exercises as an act of aggression. It had no immediate comment Sunday on the arrival of the aircraft carrier.
Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said Sunday that U.S. troops have been training in Panama, underscoring the administration’s increasing focus on Latin America.
“We’re reactivating our jungle school in Panama. We would be ready to act on whatever” Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth needed, he told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
The administration has insisted that the buildup of American forces in the region is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S., but it has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were “narcoterrorists.” Trump has indicated military action would expand beyond strikes by sea, saying the U.S. would “stop the drugs coming in by land.”
On Friday, Trump was asked by reporters if he had made up his mind on what he intended to do about Venezuela. He did not offer details but said, “I sort of have made up my mind.”
The U.S. has long used aircraft carriers to pressure and deter aggression by other nations because their warplanes can strike targets deep inside another country. Some experts say the Ford is ill-suited to fighting cartels, but it could be an effective instrument of intimidation for Maduro in a push to get him to step down.
Venezuela’s government recently touted a “massive” mobilization of troops and civilians to defend against possible U.S. attacks. Maduro and other officials in Venezuela’s socialist party also have been attending rallies this weekend to back the creation of neighborhood committees that will be in charge of increasing membership in Venezuela’s socialist party, and promoting the party’s policies.
US to designate a Venezuelan cartel a foreign terrorist organization
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the United States does not recognize Maduro, who was widely accused of stealing last year’s election, as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Rubio has called Venezuela’s government a “transshipment organization” that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs.
Rubio said in a statement released Sunday evening that the State Department intends to designate Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, a foreign terrorist organization. Rubio said the cartel is headed by Maduro and other high-ranking members of his government and is among those “responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe.” When the designation takes effect on Nov. 24, it will be a crime to provide “material support” to the cartel or its members.
Trump has justified the attacks on drug boats by saying the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels while claiming the boats are operated by foreign terrorist organizations.
He has faced pushback from leaders in the region, the U.N. human rights chief and U.S. lawmakers, including Republicans, who have pressed for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the boat strikes.
Senate Republicans, however, recently voted to reject legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela without congressional authorization.
Experts disagree on whether or not American warplanes may be used to strike land targets inside Venezuela. Either way, the 100,000-ton warship is sending a message.
“This is the anchor of what it means to have U.S. military power once again in Latin America,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for the Andes region. “And it has raised a lot of anxieties in Venezuela but also throughout the region. I think everyone is watching this with sort of bated breath to see just how willing the U.S. is to really use military force.”
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