Trump says no decision yet on ground strikes inside Venezuela

Washington, Nov 1 (IANS) US President Donald Trump said that he has not yet decided whether the United States will launch ground strikes inside Venezuela, contradicting media reports of looming attacks on military facilities in the South American country.

"No, it's not true," Trump told reporters while boarding Air Force One when asked if he had made the decision.

Earlier in the day, the Miami Herald outlet reported that the Trump administration had decided to launch strikes against military installations within Venezuela that could come "in a matter of days or even hours."

Since September 2, US forces have sunk 15 vessels in international waters in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific alleged to be trafficking drugs, resulting in at least 61 deaths.

Pentagon officials admitted they do not know the identities of all the people killed in those attacks at a confidential briefing held Thursday by a panel at the House of Representatives, according to US media, citing Democratic lawmakers who attended.

Over the past weeks, the Pentagon's military buildup in the Caribbean has grown to its largest scale in three decades.

The US Senate is expected to vote on an updated war powers resolution aimed at preventing the US military from engaging in "hostilities" against Venezuela as soon as next week, less than a month after the Senate rejected a similar effort.

"The Trump administration has made it clear they may launch military action inside Venezuela's borders, and won't stop at boat strikes in the Caribbean," Democratic Senator Adam Schiff said in an October 17 statement.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly condemned Washington's actions as attempts to overthrow his government and expand US military influence in Latin America. Earlier this month, Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the US government of "murder" for killing drug suspects at sea.

--IANS

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