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Venezuela on Tuesday announced the deployment of 15,000 troops to its border with Colombia to fight drug trafficking, as the US has reportedly sentsent two additional navy ships to the southern Caribbean as part of an operation against Latin American drug cartels, according to Al Jazeera.
Venezuelan Minister of the Popular Power for Interior Diosdado Cabello announced on Monday that Caracas would deploy 15,000 troops to bolster security in Zulia and Tachira states, which border Colombia. "Here, we do fight drug trafficking; here, we do fight drug cartels on all fronts," the minister said, while also announcing the seizure of 53 tonnes of drugs so far this year, as per Al Jazeera. Cabello said the increased security on the border with Colombia, to "combat criminal groups", would also involve aircraft, drones and riverine security, according to local media outlet Noticias Venevision, as he called on Colombian authorities to do the same to "ensure peace along the entire axis". The reinforcement of Venezuelan troops on the Colombian border comes after the Trump administration accused Venezuela's left-wing president, Nicolas Maduro, of being involved in cocaine trafficking and working with drug cartels, Al Jazeera reported. Maduro has accused the US of attempting to foment regime change in Venezuela, and launched a nationwide drive to sign up thousands of militia members to strengthen national security in the country amid the threats from Washington. "I am confident that we will overcome this test that life has imposed on us, this imperialist threat to the peace of the continent and to our country," Maduro was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying in local media on Monday. Officials in Washington have accused both Maduro and Cabello of working with the Cartel de los Soles ("Cartel of the Suns") drug trafficking organisation, which Washington has designated a terrorist group. The accusations were made as the US announced last week that it had doubled a reward to USD 50 million for the capture of Maduro on drug charges. The US earlier this year increased a reward for Cabello's arrest or prosecution from USD 10 million to USD 25 million. (ANI)
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