Reports: U.S. Conducts Rehearsals for Airstrikes Against Venezuela
President Donald Trump has charged the Venezuelan government with running "narcoterrorist" cartels and Saturday declared the nation's airspace would be sealed to "all airlines, pilots, drug dealers, and human traffickers."
The declaration accompanied a concentration of US maritime assets in the Caribbean Sea, where over 20 suspected drug-trafficking boats have been destroyed since September following Trump's directives.
The WSJ reported Trump informed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a confidential phone conversation last week that he would contemplate removing him from power unless he resigned.
Neither government has verified the alleged call occurred, though Trump has previously rejected pursuing Maduro's forced removal. Last August, the US raised the reward for Maduro's capture to $50 million.
Saturday saw the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry denounce the aviation threat as "colonialist" aggression, unlawful according to international law. Maduro has activated military forces to maximum readiness and conducted multiple exercises, pledging to resist any incursion.
The Venezuelan government has refuted claims of cartel collaboration and contended Trump is exploiting anti-narcotics operations as justification for regime overthrow.
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