President Donald Trump of the United States harshly slammed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday. He said that Maduro had made big compromises to calm things down with Washington.
When reporters at the White House queried Trump about Caracas’ purported de-escalation proposals, he stated, “He has offered everything… because he doesn’t want to mess around with the United States.”
The US has long accused Maduro of being involved in drug trafficking and has sent a lot of military equipment to the area to fight drugs, including stealth jets and seven Navy ships.
B-52 bombers flew over the Caribbean near Venezuela for a few hours earlier this week. The US military says the flights were meant to keep threats at bay, improve crew training, and make sure the world is ready.
The US operations have hit ships that are said to be involved in drug smuggling, killing more than two dozen individuals, according to reports. Trump said that one of the attacks used a submarine that was constructed just for moving a lot of narcotics.
Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, spoke with Trump and did not specify if there were any survivors. He said further information would be made public later.
Washington says these strikes are aimed at drug traffickers, but independent experts have questioned the legality of summary killings in such operations and say that the US has not produced any proof to back up its claims.