US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was to visit the Dominican Republic yesterday for talks on combating drug trafficking amid a standoff between Washington and Venezuela, officials said.
The Pentagon confirmed the visit, which comes as US President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, accused by Washington of heading a drug cartel.
Hegseth’s office on Tuesday said that he would meet with Dominican President Luis Abinader, his defense minister and other Cabinet members “to strengthen defense relationships and reaffirm America’s commitment to defend the homeland, protect our regional partners and ensure stability and security across the Americas.”
Photo: AP
The announcement came a day after the US designated an alleged Venezuelan drug cartel, the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), as a foreign terrorist organization. The designation gives the Trump administration legal authority for more action against Venezuelan officials.
The Venezuelan government on Tuesday organized an anti-US march through the capital, Caracas, in protest of the designation.
Maduro gave a speech at the rally while holding Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar’s “Sword of Peru,” telling the crowd that the country faces a “decisive juncture” requiring national unity.
“There is no excuse for anyone, whether civilian, politician, military or police officer. Failure is not an option. The nation demands our greatest effort and sacrifice,” he told supporters.
Washington has also ramped up military pressure on Caracas, deploying the world’s biggest aircraft carrier to the area, along with a raft of warships.
Caracas accuses Washington of using its war on drugs as a cover for an operation aimed at toppling Maduro.
“They always invent a scenario, like the scenario they invented with [former Iraqi president Saddam] Hussein, with [late Libyan leader Muammar] Gaddafi, to destroy these people, these countries,” said Candido Miquilarena, a 63-year-old community leader at the Caracas march.
US airstrikes on a string of alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific have killed dozens of people since September.
The Dominican Republic has been cooperating with the US operations.
Authorities in the country, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, earlier this month announced that they had seized about 500kg of cocaine from a boat intercepted during a joint operation with US forces.
“We continue working with the United States because this is a tough fight, especially in some countries, mainly in South America, that have seen an increase in drug production, particularly cocaine,” Abinader said on Tuesday.
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