US President Donald Trump announced that the US has attacked a target on the Venezuelan coast. This seems to have happened some time ago. According to CNN, Trump has revealed a secret CIA mission.
The US has attacked an alleged "drug trafficking hub" in Venezuela, President Donald Trump announced. "There was a large explosion in the port area where the boats are loading drugs," the US president said before his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. No further details were given - neither the exact location of the strike, nor whether there were any casualties.
According to the American media outlet CNN, the CIA actually carried out the attack two weeks ago. Trump himself mentioned that there had been such an attack during his participation in a podcast a few days ago, but again did not give any details. It was only when he officially announced it yesterday that the information began to spread. It is alleged that Trump had actually revealed a secret CIA operation.
According to a CNN source, the attack was more symbolic - there are many such places where drugs are distributed for trafficking along the Venezuelan coast. Trump has repeatedly stated his intention to potentially expand the operation against drug cartels in Venezuela and for the US to begin attacking targets inside the country itself.
First strike on Venezuelan territory
This is the first officially released information about a strike on Venezuelan territory since the US administration began its campaign against the government of Nicolas Maduro.
Asked if the CIA carried out the strike, Trump replied that he knew exactly who carried it out, but did not want to say. There was no comment from Venezuela in the hours after the US head of state's statement. There are also no independent sources that can confirm or deny such a strike. The CIA, the White House and the Pentagon declined to comment.
Tensions between the US and Venezuela remain high
So far, Washington's actions have focused on strikes against vessels that the US claims are transporting drugs towards America. More than 100 people have been killed in more than 20 such attacks in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific in recent months. The Trump administration has also deployed a significant military presence in the region - more than 15,000 troops are currently there. Venezuelan President Maduro believes this is an attempt to overthrow him from power.
The incident is also controversial from the point of view of the US Congress. In early December, US lawmakers heard representatives of the country's armed forces about a strike on a vessel in which 11 people were killed, and the survivors of the first attack were killed in a second strike. Democratic representatives in Congress insisted on the hearing to determine whether the second attack was in accordance with international law.