United States President Donald Trump has threatened Venezuela with “incalculable” consequences if the country does not “immediately” take back immigrants he described as “prisoners” and “people from mental institutions”.
“GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT NOW, OR THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE INCALCULABLE!” he said on his Truth Social platform on Saturday. He insisted that Venezuela had “forced” such people into the US and claimed without evidence that “thousands of people have been badly hurt, and even killed, by these ‘Monsters.’”
Trump’s latest outburst came amid soaring tensions, one day after he announced another strike against alleged drug vessels from Venezuela in the Caribbean that killed three men he described as “male narcoterrorists”.
Venezuela, for its part, has accused the US of waging an “undeclared war” in the Caribbean and called for a United Nations investigation into at least three strikes on boats that have killed a total of 17 people since the beginning of September.
Washington has deployed seven warships, a nuclear-powered submarine and F-35 stealth fighters to international waters off Venezuela’s coast, backed by F-35 fighters sent to Puerto Rico, in the biggest US naval deployment in the Caribbean.
Trump says the military is engaged in an anti-drug operation, but has not provided specific evidence to back up claims that the boats targeted so far had actually been trafficking drugs. Legal analysts have warned that the attacks amount to extrajudicial killings.
Reward offered for Maduro’s arrest
The deployment has stoked fears of an attack on Venezuelan territory, with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro repeatedly alleging the US is hoping to drive him from power.
Trump this week denied he was interested in regime change, but Washington last month doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50m, accusing him of links to drug trafficking and criminal groups.
Maduro denies links between high-ranking authorities and drug gangs and pledged to mobilise more than four million militia fighters in response to US “threats” after Washington raised the reward for his arrest.
Maduro sent letter to Trump
Days after the first US strike on a boat from the South American country at the beginning of the month, Maduro offered to engage in direct talks with Washington, according to the Reuters news agency, which viewed a personal letter sent to Trump.
“President, I hope that together we can defeat the falsehoods that have sullied our relationship, which must be historic and peaceful,” Maduro wrote in the letter, calling for “direct and frank” talks to “overcome media noise and fake news”.
In a separate development on Saturday, Maduro’s YouTube channel disappeared from the video-sharing platform on Saturday, according to the AFP news agency.
“Without any justification, the YouTube channel was closed at a time when the US was fully implementing hybrid warfare operations against Venezuela,” AFP cited Telesur as saying on its website.
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