Tensions in the Caribbean

Former UN chief: Trump's reason "purely fabricated" - lying to take the oil

Donald Trump is lying about the drug trade being the reason for US attacks on boats off Venezuela. Instead, the escalating attacks are an attempt to access the country's natural resources, according to former UN chief Pino Arlacchi.

- The fundamental reason is that Venezuela has oil that Trump wants to manage. That Venezuela is a central hub in the global cocaine trade is pure fabrication, he tells SVT's Foreign Affairs Office.

He was previously head of the UN's drug control program and says that less than five percent of the international cocaine trade is believed to pass through Venezuela, a picture that is confirmed by reviews by both the UN and the New York Times.

Just yesterday, the US sent an aircraft carrier to the area, which the US media described as a sharp escalation of the conflict with Venezuela. The country's president, Nicolás Maduro, calls the move "fabricating a war," reports the BBC.

Analysis: Hard to see it not ending with an attack

When Donald Trump sends the world's largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford to the Caribbean, he is redrawing the entire security policy map of the American continent in one fell swoop. SVT correspondent Tigran Feiler says this in an analysis.

The maneuver shows that Trump and his government are serious about what is called the "war on narco-terrorists," Feiler believes.

- Given how much the US is investing financially, logistically and in the media, it is difficult to see how this will not result in a major military operation that includes direct attacks on Venezuelan soil, he says.

The Guardian's Robert Tait points out Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the driving force behind the hardline American line against Venezuela. He points out that Rubio, the son of immigrants from Cuba, has long been a harsh critic of Venezuelan President Maduro, who, like his predecessor Hugo Chavez, has supported Cuba's communist regime.

Rubio is also said to be keen to run for president in 2028, and a tough tone against Venezuela is believed to be able to give him important votes from exiled Cubans. 

Diplomat: Is it either a hoax or preparation for war

The purpose of the US decision to send the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford to Latin America is to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. This is what Benjamin Gedan, a former Venezuela adviser to Barack Obama, told NPR.

Gedan dismisses the explanation that it has to do with US attacks on alleged “drug boats”. Sending the aircraft carrier for that purpose would be “a violent overreaction”, he says.

– Either this is a hoax to scare the life out of Venezuelan generals and get them to oust the president. Or it is a real preparation for some kind of war with Venezuela.