Venezuela has announced the deployment of 15,000 troops along its border with Colombia to crack down on drug trafficking, while the United States steps up its own anti-cartel operation in the Caribbean with the arrival of more warships.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Monday that reinforcements would be sent to Zulia and Táchira — two of the busiest smuggling corridors — supported by aircraft, drones, and river patrols.
“Here, we do fight drug trafficking; here, we do fight drug cartels on all fronts,” Cabello said, noting that Venezuelan forces have seized 53 tonnes of narcotics so far this year. He urged Colombia to strengthen its own border efforts “to ensure peace along the entire axis.”
US presence grows in the Caribbean
Reuters reported that the USS Lake Erie, a guided missile cruiser, and the USS Newport News, a nuclear-powered submarine, will arrive in the southern Caribbean next week. They will join three amphibious ships — the USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima, and USS Fort Lauderdale — carrying about 4,500 US personnel, including 2,200 Marines.
The Pentagon says the buildup is part of a wider effort to target drug cartels operating in Latin America.
Mounting tensions with Washington
The moves come amid growing friction between the US and Venezuela. Washington has accused President Nicolás Maduro and senior officials, including Cabello, of ties to the Cartel de los Soles, which it labels a terrorist group.
The Trump administration recently doubled its reward for Maduro’s capture to $50 million and raised the bounty on Cabello from $10 million to $25 million. Maduro has rejected the allegations, accusing the US of plotting regime change and mobilizing militias nationwide in response.
