Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro says the US is “fabricating” a war against him as Carrier Strike Group Twelve (CSG-12), which includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier, approaches the South American country.
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Maduro said in a national broadcast on Friday night that the administration of US President Donald Trump is creating “a new eternal war.”
“They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war that we will avoid,” Maduro said.
Trump has repeatedly made unfounded claims linking Maduro and his administration to criminal organizations, including drug trafficking and immigration, allegations dismissed by international agencies and even US intelligence assessments.
“They are fabricating an extravagant narrative, a vulgar, criminal, and totally fake one,” Maduro said, adding, “Venezuela is a country that does not produce cocaine leaves.”
The US military buildup in the Caribbean and near Venezuelan waters began in August, involving 6,000 personnel, several destroyers, anti-submarine aircraft, battleships, nuclear submarines, and F-35 squadrons.
On Friday, the Pentagon announced it was sending CSG-12 to the Southern Command in the Caribbean, claiming it only sought to enhance US capabilities to “detect, monitor, and interdict illicit activities that threaten the security and prosperity of the United States.”
The deployment of CSG-12, whose flagship is the USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, will raise the number of US military personnel in the region to 10,000.
US to send world’s largest aircraft carrier to Latin America; Venezuela warns of dangerous prelude.
The United States decides to deploy the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, and five accompanying destroyers to Latin America.
Analysts and international observers have warned that the scale of the US deployment far exceeds the scope of standard anti-narcotics operations.
The growing US military presence has raised concerns of an imminent attempt to destabilize or even invade Venezuela under fabricated pretexts.
On October 15, Trump said he had authorized CIA operations in Venezuela and was considering land operations in the country.
“We have almost totally stopped it by sea. Now we will stop it by land,” Trump said from the Oval Office, referring to alleged drug smuggling.
Since April, US forces have attacked multiple vessels, killing at least 43 Venezuelan nationals while claiming they were drug traffickers transporting narcotics to the United States.
The pace of these strikes has increased sharply in recent days, from one every few weeks when they began to three last week.
In response, the Venezuelan government has declared a national emergency, reinforced its armed forces, and mobilized its national militia to confront what it has denounced as Washington’s “unprovoked military aggression.”
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