USA
As revealed by the New York Times.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States last week carried out a drone attack against one port facility in Venezuelain what constitutes the first known US operation inside the country, as revealed by the New York Times.
According to the newspaper, the attack targeted a dock that US officials believe was used by the transnational gang Tren de Aragua to store drugs and narcotics and prepare their transfer by boat.
The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated that there were no people in the area at the time of impact and that no fatalities were reported.
President Donald Trump confirmed Monday that the United States was responsible for the attack, although he declined to detail how it was carried out or who carried it out.
“There was a big explosion in the dock area where they load drugs onto the boats,” the Republican told reporters at his private Florida compound, Mar-a-Lago.
The Venezuelan Government did not directly comment on the operation, while the Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, denounced a series of actions of “harassment, threats and attacks.”
According to the New York Times, the operation marks an intensification of the Trump Administration’s pressure campaign against the Government of Nicolás Maduro, which until now had been limited to actions in international waters against vessels suspected of drug trafficking.
The Pentagon has deployed MQ-9 Reaper drones in the region as part of that strategy, the newspaper added.
For several weeks, Trump has been warning that within the framework of his pressure campaign against the Administration of Nicolás Maduro, which has involved the destruction of thirty boats that supposedly loaded drugs and the death of more than 100 of their occupants, Washington was going to begin attacking targets on land.
Since mid-year, the United States has maintained an extensive air-naval deployment in the Caribbean, near Venezuelan waters, which, it claims, is intended to combat drug trafficking, but which Caracas interprets as “threats” and an attempt to promote a change of regime.
Tensions escalated after Trump’s announcement of a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers moving to and from the South American country, and the confiscation of two ships transporting Venezuelan crude oil in recent weeks.