The United States attacked a vessel leaving Venezuela on Tuesday, claiming it was loaded with"drugs" and operated by one of the "designated narcoterrorist organizations." President Donald Trump announced this almost in passing during an appearance at the White House, while addressing very different issues. This action represents a significant escalation after having deployed numerous military vessels to the area, putting pressure on the government of Nicolás Maduro.

"There's a lot of drugs coming into our country for a long time, and they're coming from Venezuela, and very often. A lot of things are coming out of Venezuela. So we've eliminated them, you'll be able to see after this meeting is over," the president said almost cryptically, without specifying that there had been direct action by his soldiers in the area."It happened a few moments ago, and our great general, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave us a briefing, and you'll see, and there's more where that came from," said Trump, who had no

Minutes later, however, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed what had happened, giving more details."As the President announced moments ago, today the U.S. military carried out a lethal attack in the southern Caribbean against a drug vessel that had departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization," he wrote on social media. But without specifying whether lethal means that it had achieved its objectives, destroying the vessel, or if there were deaths or how many.

The United States has deployed several warships to the waters of the southern Caribbean, along with more than 2,000 Marines. According to various reports, a cruiser, the USS Erie, and a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, the USS Newport News, will also soon arrive in the region. The number of troops could reach 4,000.

Donald Trump has called Maduro"one of the biggest drug traffickers in the world," claiming he leads Venezuela's Cartel of the Suns. He recently raised the reward to $50 million for information leading to the capture of the Venezuelan leader, who has also mobilized troops to the borders and declared himself ready to fight.

In recent days, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt was clear:"President Trump has been very clear and consistent. He is willing to use every tool at his disposal to stop the flow of drugs into our country and bring those responsible to justice." The military deployment is the largest in the region since the invasion of Panama in 1989 and has provoked mixed reactions. Brazil and Colombia have criticized the measure as destabilizing, while Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago have supported it, pointing out that drug trafficking is an unsustainable threat.

"Drug trafficking is not fought with construction companies or missiles, that's their narrative, it's absurd," responded Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López."What's happening in the United States is that there is an internal issue, but the electoral issue has driven Marco Rubio crazy, and he has lost the support there in Florida, so he wants to recover it with actions, recover it by means of threats against us," he added."Marco Rubio wants to stain his hands with blood, South American, Caribbean and Venezuelan blood," Maduro said Monday, referring to his response to Trump."Even if they put 10,000 missiles at our heads, Venezuelans will be respected."