Maduro praises Colombia's Petro for reinforcing border as U.S. naval build-up in the Caribbean stirs unease

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday (August 28) praised Colombian President Gustavo Petro for deploying 25,000 troops to strengthen security in the Catatumbo region, a key area along the shared border between the two countries.

Tensions between the United States and Venezuela are rising amid a large U.S. naval buildup in the Southern Caribbean and nearby waters, which U.S. officials say aims to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.

U.S. President Donald Trump has made cracking down on drug cartels a central goal of his administration, part of a wider effort to limit migration and secure the U.S. southern border.

While U.S. Coast Guard and Navy ships regularly operate in the Southern Caribbean, this buildup is significantly larger than usual deployments in the region, a move which was denounced by Maduro. 

The Pentagon has not indicated publicly what exactly the U.S. mission will be, but the Trump administration has said it can now use the military to go after drug cartels and criminal groups and has directed the Pentagon to prepare options.

On its part, in a message via X platform, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he had ordered the Colombian army to increase the number of troops in the Colombian Catatumbo region “to reduce the mafia's forces as much as possible.” “It is not the land that defeats the mafia, it is the coordination between the two states that achieves this,” he added.

On Thursday, Venezuela complained to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about the U.S. naval build-up, accusing Washington of violating the founding U.N. Charter.

The Trump administration designated Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and other drug gangs, as well as the Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua, as global terrorist organizations in February.

Maduro's government said last week it would send 15,000 troops along its western border with Colombia to combat drug trafficking groups.

Maduro has also called for civil defence groups to train each Friday and Saturday.

Maduro's government regularly accuses the opposition and foreigners of conspiring with U.S. entities such as the CIA to harm Venezuela, accusations the opposition and the U.S. have always denied. It characterizes sanctions as "economic war."

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