Colombian President Gustavo Petro has stated that the United States military conducted an airstrike targeting a cocaine production facility in the Venezuelan port city of Maracaibo.
Petro made the claim on social media platform X, following an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the first reported U.S. ground strike on Venezuelan soil. While Trump did not specify the location, Petro asserted, “We know that Trump bombed a factory in Maracaibo, and we fear that they are mixing coca paste there to make cocaine.”
In his extended post, Petro elaborated that the targeted site allegedly belonged to the National Liberation Army (ELN), a Colombian rebel group with partial control over the Catatumbo region, a cocaine-producing area bordering Colombia and Venezuela near Maracaibo. Petro stated, “It is simply the ELN. Through its incitement and extremism, it enables the invasion of Venezuela.”
President Trump announced the strike on Monday, stating, “There was a large explosion in the marina area where they load boats with drugs. We targeted all the boats, then we targeted the location itself, and it is no longer there.”
As of yet, the Venezuelan government has not issued an official response to these claims. Tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela have been high, with the U.S. accusing President Nicolas Maduro of leading a vast drug trafficking network.
Since September, U.S. forces have reportedly carried out approximately 30 strikes in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean against vessels suspected of drug trafficking, resulting in an estimated 107 deaths. The United States has yet to provide concrete evidence that the targeted vessels were indeed transporting narcotics. The U.S. has also significantly increased its military presence in the Caribbean.
Caracas maintains that the Trump administration is using false accusations of drug trafficking as a pretext to oust Maduro and seize control of Venezuela’s significant oil reserves.
