U.S. poised to strike military targets in Venezuela in escalation against Maduro regime [View all]

[In It to Win It]

The Trump Administration has made the decision to attack military installations inside Venezuela and the strikes could come at any moment, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Miami Herald, as the U.S. prepares to initiate the next stage of its campaign against the Soles drug cartel.

Sources told the Herald that the targets — which could be struck by air in a matter of days or even hours — also aim to decapitate the cartel’s hierarchy. U.S. officials believe the cartel exports around 500 tons of cocaine yearly, split between Europe and the United States.

While sources declined to say whether Maduro himself is a target, one of them said his time is running out.

“Maduro is about to find himself trapped and might soon discover that he cannot flee the country even if he decided to,” the source said. “What’s worse for him, there is now more than one general willing to capture and hand him over, fully aware that one thing is to talk about death, and another to see it coming.”

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration had identified targets in Venezuela, including military facilities allegedly used to smuggle drugs, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. While emphasizing that the president has not made a final decision on launching strikes, the story said officials indicated that any potential air campaign would focus on sites that lie at the intersection of the Nicolás Maduro regime and the country’s drug-trafficking networks.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article312722642.html