It was a confusing statement, the seriousness of which even the interviewer seemed to overlook. Supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis, owner of the New York radio station WABC, spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump last Friday, but the audio didn’t gain traction on social media until Sunday. Trump said the following: “They have a big plant or a big facility where the ships come from. Two nights ago we knocked that out.”
The Republican was talking about the U.S. operation against drug trafficking in the Caribbean, focused on Venezuela. And if he said what he seemed to mean, he was confirming an attack — the first strike on the ground — after months of threatening to do so, escalating the offensive against Nicolás Maduro’s government. Neither U.S. authorities nor those in Caracas have provided further details of the military operation, launched on Christmas Eve. Nor has Trump himself made any further comment.
Catsimatidis asked Trump about the military campaign the United States calls Operation Southern Spear, which since last September has taken the form of attacks against alleged drug-running boats, resulting in the extrajudicial killings of more than 100 crew members. Then came the interception of oil tankers — two to date — entering or leaving Venezuela. If an attack on the “big facility” Trump referred to is confirmed, the third phase would have begun on land.
The Republican did not disclose the exact location of the plant. Because of this, it was also unclear whether the attack was directed against Venezuela. U.S. authorities have declined to share details about the operation, including the target’s location, how it unfolded, or the role of the destroyed plant in drug trafficking. Venezuela has a minimal involvement in the cocaine trade to the United States and does not supply fentanyl, the powerful opioid responsible for the worst overdose death crisis in U.S. history. The illegal production of fentanyl is primarily carried out by Mexico and China.
Several senior U.S. officials have backed Trump’s statements and confirmed to The New York Times that the attacked facility was a drug trafficking operation, though they did not share further details. Both the CIA and the White House declined to comment on the matter.
What is striking in this murky affair is that Caracas has not denounced the attack, or that more information from the ground has not come to light.
Washington’s military operations against Venezuela, which the Pentagon has supported with an unprecedented naval deployment in the Caribbean, are aimed — and no one is attempting to hide it anymore — at putting pressure on Maduro to force a regime change.
The United States has also shown interest in the South American country’s oil in recent weeks. On December 10, its military intercepted the Skipper, a cargo ship sanctioned by the Department of Commerce, which was carrying 1.9 million barrels of crude oil. Trump asserted last week that the intention was to seize that cargo.
Threats of a “second phase” involving ground attacks began months ago. Trump has acknowledged to the press several times that he had already authorized the CIA to plan covert operations in Venezuela. During this time, it has remained unclear what form these operations might take. Adding to these uncertainties is the question of whether this new phase against the Chavista regime began on Christmas Eve with an attack on a facility in a location yet to be determined.
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