Trump's USA

The nuclear weapons of the great powers
Expert: Nuclear weapons tests not for PowerPoint people

The announcement that the US will resume nuclear weapons tests is puzzling many experts, reports the Washington Post. Several of them question the usefulness of the tests, which are expected to be both expensive and time-consuming.

The US has not tested nuclear weapons since 1992. At the test site in the Nevada desert, a new shaft must be dug unless Donald Trump decides to carry out the test above ground. It has been banned since 1963 and has not been done in the US since 1962.

Because modern nuclear weapons tests are based on computer modeling, new personnel must be brought in and trained.

– The people who tested nuclear weapons were not bureaucrats. They were not PowerPoint people but people with shit under their nails, Paul Dickman, who was present during several tests in Nevada in the 1980s, tells the newspaper. 

Tensions in the Caribbean
Sources: US has decided to attack Venezuela

The Trump administration has made the decision to attack military targets in Venezuela, sources tell the Miami Herald.

The attacks could come at any time, within hours or days. The US will attack targets via the air that are used for drug trafficking in the country, the newspaper writes.

The Wall Street Journal has somewhat conflicting information and writes that Donald Trump has not made a definitive decision about the attacks.

US officials believe that the cartel exports about 500 tons of cocaine annually to Europe and the US. The US has doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest to 50 million dollars, which is the largest reward ever, writes the Miami Herald.

The US military has greatly increased its presence off the coast of Venezuela and has repeatedly attacked boats that the US says are smuggling drugs.

Trump's War on Alleged Narco-Terror - It's About the Point

• Since September, the United States has carried out at least fourteen military attacks on boats allegedly smuggling drugs from Venezuela and Colombia, mainly in the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans.
• At least 61 people have been killed in the attacks, according to US authorities, and some attacks have taken place in international waters.
• US President Donald Trump has justified the efforts with combating drug trafficking and has classified several Latin American cartels as terrorist organizations in armed conflict with the United States.
• Venezuela has responded to the US military presence with military exercises and Colombia has recalled its ambassador to the United States; relations between the countries have deteriorated.
• Several experts and international actors question the legality and motives behind the US military operations, and believe that the aim may be to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to leave power.