After Trump's statement - this is what an American ground operation could look like: "Special Forces"
Published 22.04
Airspace is being closed and ground operations are not ruled out.
Donald Trump is stepping up the rhetoric in the conflict with Venezuelan President Maduro.
- It is possible that this is just the beginning, says security researcher Björn Ottosson.
The airspace over Venezuela is closed. Donald Trump declared this in a characteristic post on Truth Social on Saturday.
"All airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers" are covered by the stop, according to the president.
“THE AIRSPACE OVER AND AROUND VENEZUELA IS CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” he writes further.
The move comes less than a day after the president said that US ground operations against alleged drug networks in Venezuela could begin “very soon,” according to CNN.
As recently as last week, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Donald Trump spoke on the phone, the New York Times reports, citing sources.
In that conversation, Maduro is said to have raised demands for amnesty for himself, his top advisers and their families, sources with insight into the matter told the Wall Street Journal.
Researcher: Is it an “escalation”
Björn Ottosson researches American security policy at the Swedish National Defense Research Institute, FOI.
He says that Trump's words in the last 24 hours should be considered an "escalation" and that a ground operation from the American side would most likely involve special in-and-out operations, rather than massed troops on the ground.
- It is conceivable that they would carry out small-scale operations with special units where they strike drug labs or warehouses that can be linked to cartels, he says and continues:
- The last thing they want is for the "American hand" to be too visible and there is a risk that soldiers will be taken hostage or something similar.
Earlier in November, several American warships, including an aircraft carrier, were moved to the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela. The US also has around 15,000 soldiers in the region, spread out on various ships, and in Puerto Rico.
The country has also carried out several deadly attacks on boats allegedly smuggling drugs in the Pacific in recent months.
– Now they have moved large resources to the area, which costs a lot of money. It is very possible that they want to send signals to the entire region that they are there to stay. It is about showing that they take crime and the fight against gangs seriously, and then a lot revolves around Latin America for the Americans, he says.
Maduro has limited room for maneuver when it comes to responding to Trump's escalation, says Björn Ottosson.
– Maduro is quite limited right now. A possible way out for him is to appeal to the outside world and say that the country is exposed to imperialist oppression from the United States, or similar. Among some like-minded countries, he has something to gain from this, but it could also go really badly for him.
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar