Venezuela sends troops to Colombia border as US ships join cartel operation

Two much US ships said to articulation amphibious squadron owed to get disconnected seashore of Venezuela successful anti-drug cartel operation.

Venezuela has announced the deployment of 15,000 troops to its borderline with Colombia to combat cause trafficking, arsenic the United States was reported to person sent two further navy ships to the confederate Caribbean arsenic portion of an cognition against Latin American cause cartels.

Venezuelan Minister of the Popular Power for Interior Diosdado Cabello announced connected Monday that Caracas would deploy 15,000 troops to bolster information successful Zulia and Tachira states, which borderline Colombia.

“Here, we bash combat cause trafficking; here, we bash combat cause cartels connected each fronts,” the curate said, portion besides announcing the seizure of 53 tonnes of drugs truthful acold this year.

Cabello said the accrued information connected the borderline with Colombia, to “combat transgression groups”, would besides impact aircraft, drones and riverine security, according to section media outlet Noticias Venevision, arsenic helium called connected Colombian authorities to bash the aforesaid to “ensure bid on the full axis”.

The reinforcement of Venezuelan troops connected the Colombian borderline comes aft the Trump medication accused Venezuela’s left-wing president, Nicolas Maduro, of being progressive successful cocaine trafficking and moving with cause cartels.

Officials successful Washington, DC, person accused some Maduro and Cabello of moving with the Cartel de los Soles (“Cartel of the Suns”) cause trafficking organisation, which Washington has designated a violent group.

The accusations were made arsenic the US announced past week that it had doubled a reward to $50m for the seizure of Maduro connected cause charges. The US earlier this twelvemonth accrued a reward for Cabello’s apprehension oregon prosecution from $10m to $25m.

Maduro has accused the US of attempting to foment authorities alteration successful Venezuela, and launched a nationwide thrust to motion up thousands of militia members to fortify nationalist information successful the state amid the threats from Washington.

“I americium assured that we volition flooded this trial that beingness has imposed connected us, this imperialist menace to the bid of the continent and to our country,” Maduro was quoted arsenic saying successful section media connected Monday.

The Reuters quality bureau besides reported connected Monday that the USS Lake Erie, a guided rocket cruiser, and the USS Newport News, a nuclear-powered accelerated onslaught submarine, volition get successful the confederate Caribbean by aboriginal adjacent week.

Citing 2 sources briefed connected the deployment, Reuters said the rocket cruiser and onslaught submarine would articulation the US amphibious squadron that was owed to get disconnected the seashore of Venezuela connected Sunday.

The squadron includes the USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima and USS Fort Lauderdale, and is said to beryllium carrying 4,500 US work members, including 2,200 Marines, according to reports.

Trump has made the targeting of Latin American cause cartels a cardinal absorption of his administration, and has designated Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and different cause gangs, including Venezuelan transgression radical Tren de Aragua, arsenic planetary violent organisations.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies