Trump Administration Announces Operation Near Venezuela - deploys fleet

Did not see this posted

MIAMI — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Navy ships are being moved toward Venezuela as his administration beefs up counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean following a U.S. drug indictment against Nicolás Maduro.

The announcement came at the start of the daily White House press briefing to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, which has left much of the country in lock-down and which the government warns could cause 100,000 to 240,000 deaths.

“The Venezuelan people continue to suffer tremendously due to Maduro and his criminal control over the country, and drug traffickers are seizing on this lawlessness,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said after the president's announcement.

The deployment is one of the largest U.S. military operations in the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama to remove Gen. Manuel Noriega from power and bring him to the U.S. to face drug charges. It involves assets like Navy warships, AWACS surveillance aircraft and on-ground special forces seldom seen before in the region.

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This is the start of the Venezuelan oil war?

Does this remind someone of the old Colin Powell trick?


Venezuela Charges

a reply to: kloejen

I hear the pigeons now, "Coup! Coup!"

Pretty sure that "counter-narcotics operation" is going to involve a Navy Seal team capturing Maduro.

To be fair, Maduro is a classic banana-republic dictator who very well might be complicit in narco trafficking.

This oughta cure the CCP Virus right up.

a reply to: kloejen

Oil war? I think your a decade late on that idea.

I'd think it's exactly what it appears to be on the surface. A further attempt to take down Maduro and at the same time stop some of the drugs from making it into the US.

Why would the US be interested in their oil anyway? The world has changed and there is no longer any fears of not enough oil. It's more like there is so much, even before the virus, that the real issue is how do they keep prices high enough to keep the oil industry in business. They are losing money and have been for sometime.

No, not oil, they want Maduro gone.

This is not just about oil, it is about these corrupt drug groups profiting even more by potentially taking over the oil fields. It is about crushing this lawless bunch of people that are out of control.

These groups are pretty ruthless. They lost their leader, so now the others want to seize the opportunity to take over everything. That country is a hot bed for corruption because of the drugs and cartels.

Get rid of one leader, another corrupt one takes over.

a reply to: kloejen

In order for China to successfully invade, it needs allies in the region. Venezuela supplies China with a lot of oil and would be a good staging point.

They already had their own little Tonkin-style incident:

The report of the planned deployment comes two days after one of Venezuela's naval patrol boats sank after colliding with a Portuguese-flagged cruise ship near the Venezuelan-controlled island of La Tortuga. Maduro accused the ship of acting aggressively and said it was possibly carrying “mercenaries” seeking his ouster.

“You have to be very naive to see this as an isolated incident,” Maduro said Tuesday night on state TV.

But Columbia Cruise Services, the operator of the cruise ship, said the patrol boat fired gunshots and than purposely rammed into the liner at speed. There were no passengers on board and none of its 32 crew members were injured, the company said.

a reply to: Blaine91555

As the general said this is trumps own idea .

It's going to mess the Venezuelan people even more as covid' takes off.

Maduro has been selling to the Chinese for yuan , and that breaks the petrodollar rule.

You can see trumps thinking , turn a bad situation to advantage , ok , boost thee price of oil and use up some military resources to prop the economy , ok ,
But I think he's gone crazy . As the general said this was ' the president's own idea.'

All I got to ask is would the US be doing this right now if this CoVid 19 pandemic was really serious?

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: kloejen

Oil war? I think your a decade late on that idea.
...
No, not oil, they want Maduro gone.

It mighty be just to CONTROL the oil, Blaine.
I think invading everything everywhere all the time forever
isn't about to prop up the PetroBuck after this year anyway.. JMHO

originally posted by: DoctorBluechip
a reply to: Blaine91555

As the general said this is trumps own idea .

It's going to mess the Venezuelan people even more as covid' takes off.

Maduro has been selling to the Chinese for yuan , and that breaks the petrodollar rule.

You can see trumps thinking , turn a bad situation to advantage , ok , boost thee price of oil and use up some military resources to prop the economy , ok ,
But I think he's gone crazy . As the general said this was ' the president's own idea.'

OK, I can see that, but I still think it's more about other things.

Venezuela is nothing more than a giant tenement mixed in with a playground for Maduro and his thugs. There is not much of a country to save there. Not much anyone could do for the people there beyond taking down Maduro.

originally posted by: AndyFromMichigan
Pretty sure that "counter-narcotics operation" is going to involve a Navy Seal team capturing Maduro.

To be fair, Maduro is a classic banana-republic dictator who very well might be complicit in narco trafficking.

If he is, he does not hold a candle to the narco trafficking done by our very own Cocaine Importing Agency.

a reply to: derfreebie

I don't think we are going to see an invasion here. Just drug interdiction to stop the flow of money.

Nvm

originally posted by: derfreebie

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: kloejen

Oil war? I think your a decade late on that idea.
...
No, not oil, they want Maduro gone.

It mighty be just to CONTROL the oil, Blaine.
I think invading everything everywhere all the time forever
isn't about to prop up the PetroBuck after this year anyway.. JMHO

There is no reason to control the oil there for the USA, or anyone else for that matter.

It's crappy oil in the first place and they have pretty much destroyed their infrastructure... any equipment worth a damn they have already sold to other oil companies worldwide.

If anything it is something to do with Maduro and drugs.

Bad time to invest in another mission when we will soon be up to our eyeballs in new debt thanks to the coronavirus and 6 trillion dollars stimulus.

You may be right but there is evidence that this is a currency war, very much to do with oil.

This news report has superseded any talks of drug trafficking.
www.cnbc.com...

Venezuela’s oil-backed “petro” cryptocurrency raised $735 million in the first day of its pre-sale Tuesday, President Nicolas Maduro has claimed.

The Venezuelan president said on Twitter that the petro token raised more than 4.777 billion Chinese yuan, or $735 million, and that the state-backed virtual currency “reaffirms our economic sovereignty.”

It is the fight for the Reserve Currency status and if oil is not sold in dollars on the global market then we will lose that status. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves and Nicolas Maduro has publicly stated he wants to free Venezuela from the “tyranny of the dollar”

Why would the US be interested in their oil anyway? The world has changed and there is no longer any fears of not enough oil. It's more like there is so much, even before the virus, that the real issue is how do they keep prices high enough to keep the oil industry in business. They are losing money and have been for sometime.

No, not oil, they want Maduro gone.

www.reuters.com...

Venezuela publishes oil prices in Chinese currency to shun U.S. dollar

I believe Nicolas Maduro is the target also I believe the reason for Barr and the military leadership, secdef being at the corona task force pressers is because the world is watching and Maduro needs to be made an example of for other world leaders challenging our Reserve Currency status, namely China and Russia. It is no coincidence that Russia is having an oil price war with the Saudi's during the same time as we are gearing to take out Maduro..
www.aljazeera.com...

The strategic relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia may change if Riyadh does not end its oil price war with Russia, a leading US senator from oil-rich Alaska state has warned.

a reply to: Blaine91555

originally posted by: DoctorBluechip
a reply to: Blaine91555

dB suggests of Venezuela it's a staging post for a Chinese invasion of the us ?
That's (remotely) possible , is a further Eastern bloc weaponry and personnel buildup taking place perhaps?

China would really like it as a staging post, as would Russia...

It's also been used as a staging post for Iranian-backed terrorist groups that then move upwards and cross our southern border.

Strategically it is important.

I guess there's enough drug running so the Coast Guard can't handle. That's sort of their bailiwick, normally. I think.