Ex-President Donald Trump has claimed that US forces hit a "significant plant" in Venezuela recently. But, the former president withheld information about the exact nature or location of the target, and there has been no additional comment from his camp.
"US forces just eliminated – I don't know if you saw – they have a big plant, where the ships come from. Two nights ago, we knocked that out. So we targeted them decisively," Trump allegedly said to GOP supporter and supermarket owner John Catsimatidis in a recent interview.
Should a American military action is confirmed, it would mark the first attack on Venezuelan soil since the US Department of Defense began a expansion of US military presence in the region to halt narco-trafficking operations that the former administration alleges operate under the authority of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The initial objective of the force deployment has transformed into a blockade aimed at stopping the nation's crude oil shipments.
Trump has for some time indicated that American military units are poised to escalate the operations by attacking targets inside Venezuela, a tactic that would theoretically require legislative authorization.
A clip shared online on 24 December appeared to show an blast allegedly from an industrial area in Zulia state. Yet, the footage or the facility has not been confirmed by third parties.
An administration official allegedly informed a media outlet that the former president was describing a drug facility in his comments.
The Maduro government has remained silent on the event Trump described. Furthermore, there have been no verified accounts from within the country regarding it.
The buildup of American forces in the region – a position some have called a naval quarantine – represents the largest naval operation of his time in office.
Officials have stopped short from labeling the operation as a blockade, but have confirmed that about 15,000 service members are positioned across the Caribbean and the Gulf, including a aircraft carrier group, advanced fighter jets, and law enforcement vessels to uphold current sanctions.
Eva de Vries is a passionate book lover and local writer from Eindhoven.
