Naval buildup in Caribbean not aimed at ousting Maduro, U.S. Southern Command says
MIAMI The top U.S. military commander for Latin America said that the Trump administration isnt looking to use military force to remove Nicolas Maduro even as it expands counternarcotics operations in the Caribbean.
Adm. Craig Faller, head of U.S. Southern Command, said in an interview that the recent decision to double anti-narcotics assets in Latin America was months in the making and not directly tied to Maduros indictment in New York on charges of leading a narcoterrorist conspiracy that sent 250 metric tons of cocaine a year to the U.S.
Faller said economic and diplomatic pressure not the use of military force remain the U.S. preferred tools for removing Maduro from power.
This is not a shift in U.S. government policy, said Faller, who nonetheless celebrated that enhanced interdiction efforts would hurt Maduros finances and staying power. Its not an indication of some sort of new militarization in the Caribbean.
Read more: https://vifreepress.com/2020/04/naval-buildup-in-caribbean-not-aimed-at-ousting-maduro-u-s-southern-command-chief-says/