An ambiguous statement from the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has opened questions about a possible military attack against a facility in Venezuela, allegedly linked to drug trafficking, without official confirmation from either Washington or Caracas so far, according to the Spanish newspaper. The Country.
According to the media, Trump’s words were recorded in a telephone conversation with John Catsimatidis, billionaire businessman and owner of the New York station WABC, broadcast last Friday but which began to circulate widely on social networks this Sunday. In the audio, the president stated: “They have a large plant or a large facility from which the ships leave. Two nights ago we eliminated it.”
The comment occurred in the context of a reference to Venezuela and has been interpreted by analysts as the possible admission of a ground attack, which would mark an escalation in United States military actions against the Government of Nicolás Maduro, after months of public threats. If confirmed, it would be the first ground operation within what Washington calls Operation Southern Spear.
This Monday, at the beginning of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump once again referred to the operation and described it as “quick.” “There was a big explosion in the dock area where the boats are loaded with drugs. We already went for those boats, and now we have attacked the area, so that area of operations no longer exists,” he declared.
However, when consulted by the chain cnn As to whether the attack had been carried out by the US military or another agency, such as the CIA, Trump avoided details. “I don’t want to say that. I know exactly who did it, but I don’t want to say it,” he said, adding only that it happened “along the coast.”
Until now, US authorities have not offered details about the alleged operation: neither the location of the target, nor how it was carried out, nor the role that the attacked facility would have within drug trafficking routes. Nor has the Venezuelan Government officially denounced an attack, which has contributed to the lack of clarity about the events.
The Venezuelan newspaper The truth reported that the chemical company Primazol, located in the industrial zone of the San Francisco municipality, in the state of Zulia, categorically denied any link between the explosion registered in one of its facilities in the early hours of December 24 and the statements of US President Donald Trump about a “possible attack” in Venezuela.
Through a statement released on social networks, the company rejected the versions that circulated in the media and digital platforms, assured that the president’s comments “have no relation to the incident that occurred” and specified that the event was attended to immediately by its staff and the Fire Department, without any harm to people, while the cleaning and evaluation work continues in coordination with the competent authorities.
According to The Countryseveral senior US officials confirmed to The New York Times that the facility supposedly attacked would be related to drug trafficking, although without providing additional information. Both the White House and the CIA declined to comment.
In recent months, Washington’s military actions against Venezuela have included attacks against alleged drug boats, resulting in more than a hundred extrajudicial deaths of crew members, as well as the interception of oil tankers linked to the South American country. On December 10, the United States stopped the Skipper ship, which was transporting nearly 1.9 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil, a cargo that Trump claimed he wanted to retain.
According to the analysis of the Spanish newspaper, these operations are part of a strategy of sustained pressure on the Government of Nicolás Maduro, backed by an unprecedented naval deployment in the Caribbean, and aimed – in an increasingly less concealed way – at forcing a political change in Caracas.
The lack of official information leaves open doubts about whether the attack mentioned by Trump effectively marks the beginning of a new phase of military harassment against Venezuela, which began, in his own words, on Christmas night.
