US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday night (8) that he will expand operations against drug cartels after the capture of Venezuela’s then dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
“We have eliminated 97% of the drugs that enter by sea and now we are going to start attacking by land,” said Trump, citing Mexico which, according to him, is being governed by organized crime.
“The cartels are ruling Mexico. It’s very, very sad to see and realize what happened in that country. But the cartels are ruling it and they are killing 250,000 to 300,000 people in our country every year,” he said.
Trump gave new details of the operation that resulted in Maduro’s capture. “Maduro’s house was in the middle of a fort, with thousands of people and soldiers,” Trump explained. “And we entered right in the middle of a fort. Who would have thought it would be possible to do this without losing anyone? But they had everything so well planned, General ‘Razin Caine’ and Pete Hegseth were fantastic,” he declared.
The Republican leader also mentioned the number of Cuban soldiers killed in the operation. “I don’t even want to say how many, but they were decimated,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has stated that he will combat drug trafficking with all his might, especially fentanyl from Mexico, and has offered to send the American Army to attack drug trafficking.
However, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected the proposals, arguing that Mexico is a sovereign country and that its Executive is betting on a “peaceful solution”.
Trump and his government have insisted in recent months that Washington will not hesitate to use its military power to defend national security, which it considers threatened by cartels in Mexico and other countries, such as Colombia.
