Trump Says U.S. Forces Destroyed Venezuelan Coastal Facility
Speaking to reporters in Florida, the president described a significant strike targeting infrastructure where suspected drug smugglers loaded vessels with illicit cargo. "There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs," Trump stated. "So we hit all the boats, and now we hit the area -- it's an implementation area, that's where they implement, and that is no longer around."
The president declined to specify which U.S. agency executed the operation, leaving questions about Pentagon involvement unanswered. Caracas has not issued an official response.
Media reported Monday evening, according to unnamed sources with operational knowledge, that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) "carried out a drone strike earlier this month on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela," aimed at an isolated dock that American intelligence assessed was controlled by Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua for drug storage and maritime transfer operations.
The facility was unoccupied during the attack, resulting in zero casualties, according to the sources, who added that U.S. Special Operations Forces supplied intelligence for the mission.
Trump initially disclosed the strike during an interview Friday, revealing his administration eliminated "a big facility" purportedly manufacturing illegal narcotics in Venezuela. "We just knocked out -- I don't know if you read or you saw -- they have a big plant or big facility where they send the, you know, where the ships come from. Two nights ago we knocked that out, so we hit them very hard," Trump said in the phone interview.
Washington has dramatically escalated military operations in Caribbean waters adjacent to Venezuela in recent months, framing the deployment as an anti-narco-terrorism initiative. Since September, U.S. forces have destroyed approximately 30 suspected drug-trafficking vessels across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, resulting in over 100 fatalities.
Venezuelan authorities have consistently condemned American actions as thinly veiled attempts at regime destabilization and hemispheric military expansion.
Friday saw Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signal openness to diplomatic engagement with Washington under conditions of mutual respect, contingent upon American non-interference in Venezuelan sovereignty.
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