DONALD Trump has warned that dictator Nicolás Maduro’s “days are numbered” as he continues to send mixed signals about US attacks on Venezuela.
America’s military is now on a war footing after Trump moved US naval and air assets closer to Venezuelan shores – stoking fears of an all-out war.
They are said to be preparing to bomb military installations inside Venezuela – and the airstrikes could happen “any moment”, according to sources in Washington.
But in an interview with CBS, Trump played concerns of imminent war against the South American nation.
He told the 60 Minutes program: “I doubt it. I don’t think so.”
However, when asked if Maduro’s days as president were numbered, he replied: “I would say yeah. I think so, yeah.”
Asked during the 60 Minutes program if the US was going to war against Venezuela, Trump said: “I doubt it. I don’t think so.” However, when asked if Maduro’s days as president were numbered, he replied: “I would say yeah. I think so, yeah.”
Tensions continue to escalate between Washington and Caracas, with relations now reaching their most perilous point in years.
Trump does have a history when it comes to playing down his true intentions.
In June, he denied claims he would attack Iranian uranium sites during their short-lived conflict with Israel.
Just a short time after his denial, the US unleashed a motherload of bunker-busting bombs which wiped out Iran’s secret stashes.
Washington accuses the Venezuelan regime, led by Maduro and his top aides, of flooding drugs inside the American territory.
Trump escalated the fight beyond rhetoric, declaring the US in a “non-international armed conflict” with cartel groups and cutting any sort of diplomatic contact with the country.
That rare legal framing, combined with designating several cartels and Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organisations, gives Washington broad wartime powers to strike, detain and kill suspected traffickers without trial.
Even as Trump continues to downplay strikes on Venezuela, he insists the US military can target criminal organisations without inciting war with the South American nation.
It comes amid reports claiming the US could unleash airstrikes in “days or even hours”, say sources with knowledge of the situation.
They told the Miami Herald that any strikes will target military airbases and ports used by the Cartel de los Soles, a drug-trafficking organisation that the US says is encouraged by Maduro.
US troops will seek to destroy the cartel networks and wipe out its top leadership.
It comes as more than 15 US strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific have killed at least 65 people in recent weeks, with the latest taking place this Saturday.
Trump’s lethal strikes off the coast of Venezuela have targeted what he says is a hotbed for drug traffickers heading for American shores.
He says the campaign is about “saving lives,” calling Maduro’s Venezuela a “worst abuser” of open borders and a pipeline for drugs.
Washington has yet to make public any evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the United States.
American military buildup
The US military has sent the world’s biggest warship to join Trump’s drug-busting force in the Caribbean.
The latest move saw the state-of-the-art Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike Group join the American ring of steel currently stationed near Venezuelan waters.
Pentagon said the carrier group is joining a southern command centre to “bolster US capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland.”
The Ford-carrier, commissioned in 2017, is capable of hauling up to 90 aircraft and holding more than 5,000 sailors, making it the largest in the world.
The deadly aircraft permanently assigned to the ship include the 18E Super Hornet, the 18G Growler, the 2D Advanced Hawkeye, and the 2A Greyhound, alongside Seahawks.
New satellite images show that one huge military vessel, the USS Iwo Jima, is now patrolling just 124 miles from Venezuela – in posturing that will deeply unsettle President Nicolas Maduro.
It holds more than 1,600 marines who have been practising live-fire drills, and it is capable of launching a rapid amphibious invasion.
Two other USS destroyers have been seen accompanying Iwo Jima, within around 12 miles of each other.
The current position of Iwo Jima means it could be at the Venezuelan shore within five hours, if the order were given.
Meanwhile, the USS Gravely just completed a four-day stay in Trinidad and Tobago, before departing on Thursday.
Here, US Marines conducted joint exercises with local defence forces – and the operation was decried as an “act of aggression” by Venezuela.
Meanewhile, stealth F-35s, B-52 bombers, Reaper drones, eight warships and even a nuclear-powered submarine are lurking off Maduro’s coast.
Some 10,000 troops, military helicopters and intelligence assets from the CIA are also keeping a close eye on Venezuela, with Pentagon planners reportedly preparing contingencies to seize ports and airfields if ordered.
Trump also sent America’s deadliest warplanes to Venezuela’s doorstep.
Two B-1B Lancer bombers – each capable of unleashing 75,000lb of ordnance – flew from Texas on Thursday, cutting close to Venezuelan airspace in a thunderous show of force.
Maduro’s response
Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has stoked tensions by claiming his country has 5,000 Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles in “key air defence positions.”
Inside Caracas, intelligence reports suggest Hezbollah militants, Colombian guerrillas, and Cuban special forces are embedded with Maduro’s security apparatus — a sign, analysts say, that the embattled dictator is preparing for a siege.
“Any military force in the world knows the power of the Igla-S and Venezuela has no less than 5,000″ of them, Maduro said at a broadcast event on Wednesday, according to CNN.
Maduro said the weapons had been deployed “even in the last mountain, the last town, and the last city of the territory.”
The Venezuelan president has repeatedly claimed that the US is trying to drive him out of power, as Trump has accused the country of harbouring criminals.
Meanwhile, reports indicate Maduro is pleading with Russia for help with military hardware to defend against looming US strikes.
Caracas asked for defensive radars, aircraft repairs and potentially missiles, according to internal US government documents obtained by The Washington Post.
Maduro is also believed to have reached out to China and Iran for help.
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