Venezuela launched a major military operation as we savy flotilla near Caribbean waters

Venezuela announced Tuesday that they are launching a major military operation across the country, reportedly involving some 200,000 troops, in response to the growing presence of US military assets in the region. This announcement by the Venezuelan military came as the US Department of Defense confirmed that the powerful US Carriers USS Gerald Ford had entered the Southern Command Area of ​​responsibility – which includes the Caribbean.

The Venezuelan Ministry of Defense said the operation launched on Tuesday involved land, air and sea deployments.

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said on Venezuela State TV that 200,000 soldiers were involved in the exercise, according to the French news agency, AFP.

“They kill defenseless people, whether they are drug traffickers or they act without correction,” Padrino was quoted as saying, referring to US military strikes on drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific that began in September.

Since then, US forces have targeted around 20 ships in international waters, Killing at least 76 people. Trump Administration Says Jobs – Their details remain murky – They are part of the annoying anti-dolf.

The USS Ford is the largest aircraft carrier in the world, and the US Navy’s most advanced. It left the US military Mediterranean region of the Mediterranean command on Tuesday and entered the region of the Southern Command, which includes the waters around Latin America.

The aircraft on board Ford includes four squadrons of f / a-18 high hornets, if-18 separate aclevorn, airborne control systems, two squadrons of maritime aggression and group combat logistics.

The US has also sent F-35 warplanes west to Puerto Rico, as well as 7 more US Navy ships to the Caribbean.

Many people inside Venezuela, including President Nicolas Maduro himself, and observers outside the country believe they have increased US military pressure on Caracas. It is aimed at forcing Maduro out of office.

President Trump has not said that as his intention, although he has said that he believes Maduro’s days are numbered. Mr. Trump has repeatedly accused Maduro of being in league with armed gangs that steal drugs from the US – Accusations the Venezuelan leader has denied.

The former top official in Venezuela, the ambassador James of this story, who served in the first term of President Joe Biden, told 60 minutes ago in the US that he can remove maduro by force.

David Smolansky, one of Venezuela’s opposition leaders, told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan that he also “firmly” believes Maduro’s days are numbered.

“I think it’s important, the pressure applied from the US,” he said, adding that he and one opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize-Winner Maria Corina Machado of the Machados “contact this and [Trump] to manage. “

“We are confident that the change is likely to happen soon,” he said.

If there is an attack by the US military in Venezuela, the minister of defense Padrino said on Tuesday in his televised comments that the foreign forces get “the community to protect this nation, to the death.”

Some of Venezuela’s neighbors have also raised serious concerns over US attacks on small boats.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday ordered his country to stop sharing intelligence with the US and said the order would continue attacks on boats in the Caribbean. “

“The fight against drugs must be included under the human rights of the people of the Caribbean,” said Petro, who had told CBS News in an exclusive interview In October that the strikes against the boats were illegal and ineffective.

CBS News Deputy Foreign Correspondent Jose Diaz Jr. contributed to this report.