Tensions flare as Trump shows firmness toward Venezuela

Donald Trump warned Caracas on Friday that its military aircraft would be shot down if they posed a threat to US forces, as Washington announced it was sending 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico as part of the Republican president’s war on drug cartels.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called for dialogue as tensions between the two countries escalated in the Caribbean.

The aircraft will join US warships deployed in the southern Caribbean as Trump ramps up pressure on Maduro, whom the US accuses of leading a drug cartel.

Tensions have risen in recent days, with the Pentagon announcing that two Venezuelan military aircraft flew over a US Navy ship on Thursday, warning Caracas against any further escalation following this highly provocative move.

“If they (the Venezuelan aircraft) put us in a dangerous situation, they will be shot down,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday when asked about what steps he would take if the incident were to happen again.

For his part, Maduro said on Friday that disagreements with the United States should not lead to a military conflict.

“Any disagreement with the United States shouldn’t lead to a military conflict… Its unjustified,” he said in a message broadcast on the country’s media.

He pointed out that the intelligence reports they (Trump) provided are incorrect… Venezuela today is a country free of coca leaf and cocaine production, and it’s a country fighting drug trafficking”.

“Venezuela has always been ready to talk and engage in dialogue, but we demand respect,” he added.

Trump announced on Tuesday that US forces had attacked a drug-laden boat in the Caribbean Sea, which had set sail from Venezuela and was headed to the United States, killing 11 “narco-terrorists” who he said were members of a gang affiliated with Maduro.

At the time, Maduro denounced the US military buildup, considering it “the greatest threat our continent has witnessed in the past 100 years”.

He declared his country’s readiness to engage in armed struggle in defense of its territory, and mobilized the Venezuelan army, which numbers approximately 340,000 personnel, and reserve soldiers, believed to number over eight million.

Maduro told foreign correspondents that day, “If Venezuela is attacked, it will immediately enter a phase of armed struggle”.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller criticized Maduro on Friday, describing him as a drug trafficker and claiming that Venezuela is run by a drug cartel, a drug trafficking organization.

The US attack, which left several dead on Tuesday and targeted what Washington said was a drug-trafficking boat, marked a significant escalation and an unusual step for the US military in a matter long considered a law enforcement concern.

Eight US Navy ships are currently involved in counter-drug efforts in Latin America: three amphibious assault ships, two destroyers, a cruiser, and a littoral combat ship in the Caribbean, as well as a destroyer in the eastern Pacific, a US defense official said this week, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The US Department of Defense, which Trump signed an executive order renaming on Friday as the “Department of War,” said that two aircraft belonging to the “Maduro regime” flew near a US ship on Thursday.

US Department of Defense stated on X that this highly provocative move was intended to interfere with the US military’s counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism operations.

Venezuela possesses 15 F-16 fighter jets purchased from the United States in the 1980s, in addition to a number of Russian fighter jets and helicopters.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the new aggressive approach to what Washington calls “narco-terrorist” groups during a tour of Latin America this week.

“What will stop them is to blow them up and get rid of them,” Rubio said in Mexico on Wednesday.

“If you are on a boat full of cocaine or fentanyl heading to the United States, you are a direct threat to it,” he added.