The world is on the brink of war! Donald Trump considers ground operation, Nicolas Maduro responds with military exercis

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he had approved secret and potentially deadly CIA operations in Venezuela, stressing that he was "considering" the possibility of ordering ground military strikes by the US military in the Latin American country, marking a dramatic escalation of pressure from Washington to force President Nicolas Maduro and his government to step down.

Caracas reacted by describing the Republican's statements as a violation of international law and an attempt to legitimize an operation for "regime change" with the aim of appropriating the country's oil wealth.

"Our permanent mission to the UN will express our protest on this issue to the Security Council and the Secretary-General tomorrow (today, Thursday), demanding accountability from the US government“, stressed Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ivan Gil via Telegram.

According to information from the New York Times, which cites US officials familiar with the matter, a classified Trump administration document approves covert CIA operations in Venezuela and the wider Caribbean with the aim of overthrowing Nicolas Maduro.

Washington accuses the Venezuelan president and his government of running a drug trafficking cartel destined for the US market and earlier this year doubled to $50 million the reward it is offering for information leading to Maduro's arrest. Caracas has categorically denied these allegations.

When asked why he had approved US intelligence operations in Venezuela, Donald Trump cited illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

"For two reasons", the Republican said. "First, they emptied their prisons in the United States", he claimed, adding that prisoners were sent "across the border" because "we had open borders". "And the other is drugs", he added.

He did not provide any evidence for the claim that Caracas was sending former prisoners to his country.

He added that he was "looking" at the possibility of launching ground strikes against drug traffickers in Venezuelan territory. "I don't want to share more, but we are currently exploring the terrain because we control the sea very well".