AMERICAN forces are reportedly preparing to bomb military installations inside Venezuela – and the strikes could come in a “matter of days or even hours”.
Donald Trump has already moved US naval and air assets closer to Venezuelan shores – stoking fears of an all-out war.
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The Pentagon has sent USS Gerald R. Ford to the Caribbean as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to ‘dismantle’ criminal organisations
An US F-35 fighter jet is pictured during an event of the US Air ForceCredit: AFP
US President Donald Trump is poised to lead strikes on VenezualaCredit: AFP
The strikes are set to target military airbases and ports used by the Cartel de los Soles, a drug-trafficking organisation the US says is led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his regime.
They will seek to destroy the cartel networks and wipe out its top leadership.
And the attacks could take place in just “days or even hours”, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Miami Herald.
In recent weeks, tensions between Washington and Caracas have reached their most dangerous point in years.
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.
He sent the world’s biggest warship to join his 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.
The US military has so far conducted at least 13 deadly strikes against suspected drug vessels that have killed about 57 people from Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, according to U.S. officials.
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.
The US president insists the US military can target criminal organisations without inciting war with the South American nation.
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.
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.
This week, 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.
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.
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Washington has offered a $50 million reward for anyone who can give information that will lead to Maduro’s arrest, Reuters reported.
Adding to the growing heat is Trump accusing Colombian President Gustavo Petro of being an “illegal drug leader.”
