Venezuela held yesterday Saturday military high schools to protect its coasts from possible “secret operations” approved by the administration of US President Donald Trump, announced the Minister of Defense of the Latin American country, Vladimir Padrino.

“We are conducting a coastal defense exercise, which began 72 hours ago (…) to protect ourselves not only from large-scale military threats, but also from drug trafficking, terrorist threats and covert operations aimed at destabilizing (…) the country,” Mr. Padrino said.

Donald Trump confirmed a few days ago that he approved CIA operations in Venezuela. This week, he said he was considering ground strikes against drug cartels he says operate in Venezuela.

Washington will deploy aircraft carrier in the Caribbean, officially in the context of operations to combat drug trafficking. This is a further major increase in the firepower of US military assets in the region, which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has undertaken as part of an effort to “manufacture” a war against his country.

The US of Donald Trump – who promised in his second election campaign that he would end “perpetual wars” abroad – has been carrying out airstrikes against high-speed ships posing as drug traffickers since the beginning of September, mainly in the Caribbean.

Ten are known to have been fired, killing at least 43 people, according to an AFP tally based on reports from Washington.