Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded Thursday against a “crazy war” as an escalating US military campaign sent tensions soaring.
Maduro’s comment came after US President Donald Trump said he had authorized covert action against the South American nation amid a military campaign targeting what Washington says are drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific.
“Yes peace, yes peace forever, peace forever. No crazy war, please!” Maduro said in English in a meeting with unions aligned with the leftist leader.
The United States has deployed stealth warplanes and navy ships as part of what it calls anti-narcotics efforts, but has yet to release evidence that its targets — eight boats and a semi-submersible — were smuggling drugs.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump again denied that he had sent B-1B bombers to Venezuela, but said “we’re not happy with them. They’ve emptied their prisons into our country.”
The president said “we’re not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war” from Congress, which has the constitutional power to do so.
“We’re just going to kill people who come into our country.”
The US strikes, which began on September 2, have killed at least 37 people, according to an AFP tally based on US figures.
Regional tensions have flared as a result of the campaign, with Maduro accusing Washington of seeking regime change.
Late Thursday, the government in Trinidad and Tobago — located just off Venezuela’s coast — announced that a US warship would dock in its capital from October 26-30.
The Trinidadian foreign ministry said a unit of US Marines would conduct joint exercises with its defense forces.
Two of those killed in the US strikes were from Trinidad and Tobago.
Last week, Trump said he had authorized covert CIA action against Venezuela and was considering strikes against alleged drug cartels on land.
The Republican billionaire president accuses Maduro of heading a drug cartel, a charge the Venezuelan leader denies.
“We know the CIA is present” in Venezuela, the country’s defense minister Vladimir Padrino said Thursday.
“They may deploy — I don’t know how many — CIA-affiliated units in covert operations… and any attempt will fail.”
Padrino was overseeing military exercises along Venezuela’s coast in response to the US military deployment in the Caribbean.
Experts have questioned the legality of using lethal force in foreign or international waters against suspects who have not been intercepted or questioned.
