As the US is engaging in a large military buildup in the Caribbean, there is a growing number of statements from US officials suggesting that a bombing campaign inside Venezuela could soon begin. 

Starting in September, the US began conducting strikes against alleged boats operated by Latin American drug cartels in international waters. Defense officials told The Atlantic that those operations could soon expand to inside Venezuelan territory. 

“The campaign could extend inside Venezuelan territorial waters or include drone strikes inside its land borders,” the officials explained. 

The State Department has designated about a dozen Latin American cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. President Donald Trump says the US is in an armed conflict with the narco-terrorist cartels, and has authorized the Department of War to conduct lethal strikes. 

So far, at least 21 people have been extrajudicially executed during Trump’s unconstitutional bombing campaign. 

There is growing concern that the strikes against cartels will expand beyond the gangs to the Venezuelan government. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have claimed that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is the leader of a designated narco-terrorist cartel. 

The Atlantic notes that there are problems with the Trump administration’s allegations against Maduro. The White House lacks evidence for the claim that Maduro is the leader of a cartel, and only a small amount of drugs in the US are trafficked through Venezuela. 

Last week, Trump ended all negotiations with Venezuela. On Wednesday, Politico reported that a person familiar with the Trump administration said, “There is now a coherent whole-of-government strategy to eliminate Cartel de los Soles and its leader.”