Cabello casts doubt on Washington’s version and says the US objective is “regime change” in Caracas
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello has accused the United States of committing eleven “extrajudicial executions” with its bombing of a vessel allegedly transporting drugs off the coast of Venezuela. He also cast doubt on Washington’s version of events and said the US objective is “regime change” in Caracas.
Cabello stated during his program “Con el mazo dando,” broadcast on Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), that US authorities must “clarify” the details of the operation. “It’s not convincing. It raises doubts wherever you look. There’s no way to believe any of it, beyond the narrative,” he said.
“If they really did it, they murdered eleven people without a trial. I ask if that can be done,” the Venezuelan Interior Minister stated. “Let’s suppose, in an exercise, that it was drugs, that eleven people were there, and they were shot. Do they have the right to murder a person? Their own laws prohibit it,” he reiterated.
“The video, what they are saying, is evidence against them. They murdered eleven people (…). They are declaring their murder. It’s a blunder,” he indicated, also suggesting that Venezuela would have been accused of these acts had it acted in the same way in its anti-drug operations.
Thus, he stated that in Venezuela “one can talk” about this US operation and the doubts surrounding the arguments presented by the United States to justify the bombing instead of proceeding with an interception in its waters. “We are not complicit in any of this, neither in drug trafficking nor in executions on the high seas,” he emphasized.
Cabello also criticized the fact that “when the news broke, the word ‘alleged’ disappeared from the world press’s dictionary.” “No one said alleged boat, alleged drugs, alleged deaths. They took everything for granted,” he explained, before criticizing the United States for “pompously announcing the murder of eleven people.” “That’s very delicate,” he added.
During the program, the Interior Minister also showed a screenshot of the video released by the United States to justify the operation and questioned the number of people on the boat, the presence of drugs, and the lack of evidence regarding the boat’s departure from Venezuela or where it was headed.
In this regard, he also questioned whether the boat “posed an immediate threat” that would justify the bombing. “Did it have missiles? Don’t be crude, you can’t do it like that. It raises many doubts (…), because the fight against drugs, wherever it is, but this seems to have another meaning,” he argued.
Cabello also questioned why Washington is announcing a military deployment off the coast of Venezuela to confront alleged operations by the Cartel of the Suns, while the operation was focused on alleged members of the Tren de Aragua.
“CONSTANT THREAT” AGAINST VENEZUELA
“Why did they change the narrative all at once? It’s hard to convince the world that Venezuela is a narco-state, and they know that’s completely unfounded,” the minister reiterated, noting that Venezuela is under “constant threat, a siege by imperialism and some lackeys.”
“We should be cautious, have nerves of steel, calm and sanity, and maximize popular mobilization,” Cabello urged, maintaining that “imperialism is like that; it always disguises itself in lies.” “Why is Venezuela a threat to anyone?” he asked, while mocking the United States’ recourse to an 18th-century law to expel Venezuelans from the country.
“Venezuelans are enemies of the United States because of a law they dusted off. What a crazy thing, with nothing to back it up,” he criticized, before framing the accusations surrounding the Tren de Aragua and the Cartel of the Suns within this campaign against Caracas. “Netflix. They invented a movie to suit themselves,” he remarked.
Thus, Cabello argued that the epicenter of the drug trafficking problem in South America is “Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, which are the fronts from which the largest amount of drugs come out,” while stating that “87 percent of the drugs” that pass through these routes to the United States transit through the Pacific Ocean.
“If the United States or any country in the world wants to combat drugs, are they going to go where 5 percent of the drugs come from, or does common sense tell them to go fight where 87 percent comes from?” he asked. “If you want to fight drugs, go to the Pacific,” he said.
“Go there, it’s not this way. In Venezuela, we are waging a real war on drugs,” Cabello pointed out, arguing that behind these accusations “there is a subtext.” “The subtext is one they haven’t wanted to acknowledge, but what they have always sought is regime change in Venezuela, to end the Bolivarian Revolution with lies,” he concluded.
