#venezuela

#venezuela

Driving the news: Graham said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that he thinks Trump has decided "it's time for" Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro "to go," calling land strikes a "real possibility." Worth noting: The White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request to confirm whether such a briefing has been scheduled. Trump last week said his administration would "probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we are doing" before launching land strikes, but added, "we don't have to do that."

The U.S. military is sending an aircraft carrier to the waters off South America, the Pentagon announced Friday, in the latest escalation of military firepower in a region where the Trump administration has unleashed more rapid strikes in recent days against boats it accuses of carrying drugs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to deploy to the U.S. Southern Command region to "bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on social media.

The US says it is fighting drugs, but its warships off Venezuela tell another story about power, control and regime change. Ten thousand soldiers on board 10 US warships, including a nuclear submarine, several destroyers and a missile cruiser, patrol the southern Caribbean in what is the largest US military build-up in the region in decades. At least seven boats allegedly transporting drugs have been bombed, resulting in the extrajudicial killing of more than 32 people.

Just a few days ago, the Trump administration authorized covert operations by the CIA in Venezuela, most likely ruling out continued diplomacy with President Nicolás Maduro. That comes as the U.S. continues to target alleged drug traffickers with missile strikes in Venezuelan waters. There has been no consideration given to whether the passengers on these boats are innocent; there is no hard evidence, even, that these boats were carrying drugs.

President Donald Trump took a victory lap of sorts on Friday while taking questions from reporters at the White House, boasting that Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro is offering everything to him because he knows not to f*ck around with the U.S. Trump was asked if he had authorized CIA operations in Venezuela and replied, Well, I wouldn't say that, but some interesting things are happening around the world, I'll say that.

We have been informed by the embassy of Venezuela that it is shutting its doors and no reason has been given, the foreign ministry spokesperson, Cecilie Roang, told AFP. It is regrettable. Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue open with Venezuela and will continue to work in this direction, she said. According to the Verdens Gang daily, which revealed the information, the embassy services were no longer answering the phone on Monday afternoon.

As Grenada's government considers the Trump administration's request to set up a military radar base on the island to monitor nearby Venezuela, calls for authorities and islanders to reject the move and allow Grenada to avoid an impending war are beginning to emerge. Leading the charge for the Dickon Mitchell administration to politely say no to the base at the Maurice Bishop International Airport comes from no less influential regional labor leader and ex-senate president Chester Humphrey.

If you want peace, prepare to win it,

Rubio has been leading the effort for regime change, the New York Times reported late last month. The push for regime change would involve a "broad campaign that would escalate military pressure to try to force" out Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Times reported. Administration officials have said that U.S. forces have struck four vessels in the Caribbean that they claim originated from Venezuela over the past weeks, killing 21 people so far. These strikes have been roundly condemned by human rights experts as illegal.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his security forces prevented a false flag operation to plant explosives at the United States Embassy in the capital Caracas in order to heighten tensions with Washington amid a US military build-up off the coast of the Latin American country. In a televised interview late on Monday, Maduro said two reliable sources, one domestic and one international, had informed