Trump warns: he could attack Maduro's drug traffickers inside Venezuela

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, stated this Tuesday that his administration is considering attacking the drug cartels operating within Venezuela with Maduro's approval, after the U.S. military attacked several vessels transporting drugs from that country.

"We hit several boats (...), and since we did that we have absolutely no drugs coming into our country by water, because it was lethal," Trump told reporters as he left the White House, also stating that "Venezuela has been very dangerous, with drugs and with other things."

" Now we're going to look at the cartels. We're going to look very seriously at the cartels coming by land," the president specified. "We'll see what happens with Venezuela," were the last words of the Republican leader before he left for a meeting with the top military chiefs at the Pentagon. 

Maduro, about to declare a state of emergency

Meanwhile, as U.S. pressure on his regime increases, the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro declared that he is ready to declare a state of emergency in the event of a military attack against his government's targets. The threat was amplified by the number two of the Chavista dictatorship, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. 

Rodríguez said that the activation of the state of emergency would immediately give Maduro special powers to mobilize the armed forces, seal the country's borders, and place the military in charge of key infrastructure. She also targeted those who openly call for U.S. intervention, since they can't "be considered Venezuelans." 

In recent weeks, the significant deployment of naval forces in the Caribbean Sea ordered by Trump has resulted in a series of airstrikes on Venezuelan vessels that have killed at least 17 drug traffickers and have dealt a blow to the interests of the Cartel of the Suns led by Maduro. 

Washington claims that its attacks are part of an offensive against Latin American drug cartels that are smuggling cocaine and fentanyl into the U.S. thanks to the sponsorship of the narco-Chavista regime. However, it is still not defined whether this offensive will serve as a prelude to a broader military intervention designed to put an end to Maduro and his cronies.