WASHINGTON, November 17. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump has said that he doesn’t rule out a potential ground operation in Venezuela.
"I don't rule out anything, we just have to take care of Venezuela," he told reporters when asked whether he is ready to rule out anything, including the use of ground forces, at this point.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly said that his country is facing the most serious threat in the past 100 years of an aggression from the United States. Meanwhile, Washington has accused Caracas of not doing enough to combat drug smuggling. Under this pretext, the US deployed large forces to the Caribbean. Eight US warships, one submarine, and more than 16,000 troops have reportedly been deployed by the United States to the Caribbean. Since September, the US has destroyed at least 20 boats and eliminated 76 people allegedly involved in drug trafficking from Venezuela. On November 16, the Pentagon announced that a strike group of US warships led by the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford had entered the Caribbean Sea.
According to The New York Times, US President Donald Trump has authorized CIA covert operations in Venezuela. According to the US media, Washington may begin delivering strikes on drug cartels in Venezuela in the near future. Updated plans for potential operations against Venezuela were presented to Trump on November 11. After studying these plans, the US leader told journalists that he had formed an opinion of what should be done against Caracas.