Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused President Donald Trump of pushing for war against his country just a day after the Pentagon confirmed it had dispatched the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the region.
In a national broadcast on Friday night, Maduro accused Trump of “fabricating a new eternal war” against Venezuela.
“They promised they would never again get involved in a war and they are fabricating a war that we will avoid,” said Maduro. “They are fabricating an extravagant narrative, a vulgar, criminal and totally fake one.”
Read more: Trump’s Caribbean Bombing Campaign Brings War on Terror to the Americas
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Friday that the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, was being deployed to “dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland.”
Parnell said the deployment would “bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere.”
The deployment represents a significant escalation in the Trump Administration’s military buildup in Latin America, which it claims is targeted at drug cartels. But it comes amid an increase in threats against opposing governments.
During his first term in office, Trump tried unsuccessfully to push Maduro out of power. Since returning for a second term, he has denied that he is seeking regime change—but those denials are becoming less forceful. Trump has accused Maduro of being an illegitimate president after an election that most independent observers believe was stolen. He has also accused him, without providing evidence, of being the leader of the organized crime gang Tren de Aragua, and blamed him for the trafficking of fentanyl-laced drugs to the United States. In August, a reward for information leading to his arrest was raised to $50 million.
The U.S. has been carrying out strikes against boats it claims are being driven by cartel members carrying drugs in the Caribbean since early September, and in recent days, Trump has threatened to extend the strikes inside Venezuela. At least 43 people have been killed in 10 strikes, according to the administration.
Analysts and legal experts have questioned the legality of the strikes, which have been carried out without Congressional approval.
“I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war,” Trump said on Thursday when asked why he hadn’t sought Congressional approval for the strikes. “I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We’re going to kill them, you know, they’re going to be like, dead.”
A day earlier, Trump had suggested that he might strike within Venezuela soon to target what his administration alleges are cocaine production facilities, according to CNN. But he added that he might seek Congressional approval for those strikes.
“We’re allowed to do that, and if we do [it] by land, we may go back to Congress,” Trump told White House reporters on Wednesday.
The Trump Administration has been building up military forces in the region for months now. The Pentagon deployed 10 F-35s to Puerto Rico last month. The U.S.S. Gerald Ford will join eight warships and some 10,000 troops already in the region.
Trump also authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. Maduro responded directly to the revelation, calling the move a “desperate” attempt at regime change.
In his televised address on Friday, Maduro denied that his country produced cocaine.
“Venezuela is a country that does not produce cocaine leaves,” he said.
The U.S.S. Gerald Ford is the most advanced aircraft carrier ever built by the U.S. Navy. It typically carries dozens of fighter jets and some 4,000 personnel. The carrier was recently docked in Split, Croatia, meaning it could take several days to arrive off the coast of Venezuela.
In both of his presidential campaigns, Trump ran on a platform of ending what he described as “endless wars,” and has frequently described himself as the “president of peace.” Since returning for a second term, he launched widespread bombing raids against Iran’s nuclear program, again without seeking congressional approval.
Trump has also lashed out in recent days at Colombia’s leftist president, Gustavo Petro, saying he had “better close up” drug operations in the country “or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.”
On Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against Petro for providing “benefits” to “narco-terrorist organizations.”
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