Venezuelan officials announced Sunday that they will increase the deployment of troops in the country’s coastal states in a bid to crack down on drug trafficking.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said President Nicolas Maduro ordered more troops in the Guajira region of Zulia state and the Paraguana peninsula in Falcon. Padrino said the area is part of “a drug trafficking route.”
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Venezuela is also increasing its troop deployment on the Nueva Esparta island and in the states of Sucre and Delta Amacuro from 10,000 to 25,000.
“No one is going to come and do the work for us,” Padrino said. “No one is going to step on this land and do what we’re supposed to do.”
The defense minister’s comment is likely a jab at the United States and the Trump administration, which carried out a strike against a Venezuelan boat and killed 11 people, alleged to be Tren de Aragua gang members. President Donald Trump said on Truth Social the boat was “heading to the United States” while transporting “illegal narcotics.”
Maduro condemned the strike as an “act of war,” and vowed last week to resist any effort to topple his regime. However, he has since changed his tune, saying he respects Trump and that “none of the differences we’ve had” can lead to military conflict.
Andrew “Art” Arthur, a former immigration judge and resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Washington Examiner that the strike is “partially” a message not to smuggle drugs. It is also a message to Marudo that the U.S. is willing to take necessary military action.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) criticized the lack of “due process” in the strike, warning on Sunday that it opens U.S. citizens to similar strikes from other countries. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) also condemned “killing someone without a trial” in a statement on X.