Maduro trembles: Trump announced that he will ask Congress for authorization to attack cartels that traffic drugs by land

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said on Wednesday to reporters that he will notify Congress about military attacks carried out against land-based drug trafficking targets, which suggests that military action against the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela appears to be imminent. 

"We will hit them very hard when they come by land. They haven't experienced it yet, but now we're fully prepared to do it. We will go back to Congress and explain exactly what we're doing when they come by land," Trump said at the White House, seated next to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

The U.S. president added that his administration has "legal authority" to launch such attacks, assuring that this "is a national security issue." "These drugs killed 300,000 Americans last year, and that gives you legal authority," Trump stated. 

Trump corners Maduro

In recent days, Trump has raised the prospect of attacking Maduro regime targets by land and has recently confirmed that he has authorized the CIA to carry out operations in the Latin American country. The U.S. military presence in the Caribbean Sea is extensive, with warships, nuclear submarines, and 10,000 Marines deployed. 

Meanwhile, as the conflict in Venezuela heads toward a military escalation, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said this morning that two narco-terrorists died in an attack on a vessel transporting drugs in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, marking the first attack of this kind on that side of the continent.

In total, U.S. forces have neutralized eight drug smuggling vessels in Latin America since early September. A larger-scale attack already on Venezuelan territory would, in any case, require approval from the United States Congress. 

In conjunction with these events, Hegseth also announced the creation of a new Joint Anti-Narcotics Task Force, which will operate near Southern Command and will aim to "crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe."