The United States “hit” a dock facility on the Venezuelan coast last week, President Donald Trump said today. It is the apparent first American attack on Venezuelan soil since the United States began building up forces in the Caribbean this fall.
Speaking to reporters in Florida on Monday, Trump confirmed the U.S. had carried out a strike on Venezuelan land on Dec. 24, taking out the “implementation area” where drugs are allegedly being loaded onto boats.
“But there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump said. It was his first comment on the strike since Friday, when he first revealed the Christmas Eve operation while calling into a New York City talk radio show.
Trump refused to say if it was the U.S. military or another group such as the Central Intelligence Agency that carried out the strike. He did not elaborate on the nature of the attack, except to say that the facility targeted was “along the shore” and that it is “no longer around.” It is not clear how extensive the damage is, where in Venezuela the facility was located and if anyone was killed or wounded in the attack.
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Venezuela has not publicly commented on the president’s remarks. Both U.S. Southern Command and the Department of Defense directed questions to the White House. The White House has not responded as of press time. Trump said that he has talked to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro “pretty recently” but did not go into details about the calls.
Trump first revealed the operation on Dec. 26, when he called the cell phone of billionaire John Catsimatidis, the owner of the radio station WABC who was guest hosting a show. The interview covered several topics, including U.S. strikes against alleged drug boats and the Christmas day bombing operation in Nigeria. During the call, Trump mentioned the attack in Venezuela.
“They have a big plant or a big facility where the ships come from. Two nights ago, we knocked that out,” Trump said. The White House did not respond to questions about that interview over the weekend.
The Trump administration has accused Maduro’s government of being involved in drug trafficking operations, including via boats operating in the Caribbean. In October he confirmed he gave the approval for covert operations inside Venezuela.
The United States has a large force in the Caribbean, including a carrier strike group, squadrons of fighter jets and an amphibious ready group carrying the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. They are organized under Operation Southern Spear. Since September the U.S. has launched 29 airstrikes on suspected drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 105 people. Those attacks have been overseen by U.S. Special Operations Command. This month the United States began moving to board and intercept oil tankers coming or going to Venezuela as part of a “blockade” directed by Trump.
