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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated on Friday that he has made a decision regarding possible military actions against Venezuela, though he refused to provide details about the next steps.
"I've made up my mind. I can't tell you what it will be," Trump responded to reporters as he walked toward the presidential plane headed to Florida for the weekend.
"We have made significant progress with Venezuela in terms of halting the massive influx of drugs," he added.
The U.S. President has held multiple meetings with high-ranking officials at the Pentagon in recent days, including meetings with the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine.
According to a report from the Washington Post, various military options that could be implemented against Venezuela were discussed in these meetings, as part of the so-called "Southern Lance" operation.
Since August, the United States has reinforced its military presence in the southern Caribbean, with around 10,000 soldiers deployed and the presence of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, considered the largest and most versatile combat platform in the world.
The mission, according to Hegseth, aims to interrupt the drug trafficking leaving Venezuela en route to the United States and to neutralize criminal organizations that the U.S. government links to the regime of Nicolás Maduro.
Southcom recently released a video of another vessel in the Caribbean being eliminated with four alleged drug traffickers on board, an action that adds to the previous attacks carried out under the same operation.
U.S. forces remain on alert and ready to execute attack orders, although Trump has insisted on maintaining a "strategy of ambiguity" to avoid revealing his moves to potential adversaries.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro responded to the deployment with a call for the population to prepare for a possible "armed struggle" and announced the mobilization of 200,000 military personnel across the country.
In parallel, Maduro urged American citizens to stop what he described as a belligerent action against South America and the Caribbean, denouncing that Washington would be "fabricating" a war against him.
Despite the tension, by Friday night Trump had not authorized ground attacks, although U.S. officials indicated that military options are available to the president and could be implemented quickly if he chooses to do so.
Meanwhile, the operation continues to focus on naval objectives, featuring joint maneuvers by the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford and B-52 bombers, framed within a multi-domain strategy aimed at protecting U.S. territory and combating drug trafficking.
Trump's statement, "I've made my decision," marks a key moment in U.S. policy towards Venezuela, keeping the region on alert for the possibility of a conflict that could escalate beyond the ongoing maritime attacks.
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