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Venezuela’s attorney general said there is “no doubt” that U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to overthrow the Venezuelan government, accusing Washington of trying to turn the country into a “colony” of the United States, as tensions continue to rise in the Caribbean.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab, a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro, told the BBC that Trump’s administration wants regime change in Venezuela to seize the nation’s vast natural resources, including gold, oil, and copper.
Trump has accused Maduro of leading a drug-trafficking organization, an allegation the Venezuelan president denies. Saab said that despite what he called an “illegitimate” U.S. campaign against Venezuela, the country remains ready to resume dialogue.
When asked about the possibility of a U.S. land invasion, Saab said, “It shouldn’t happen, but we are prepared.”
Over the past two months, the U.S. has increased its military presence in the Caribbean, deploying warships, fighter jets, marines, spy planes, bombers, and drones as part of what it describes as operations against drug trafficking and “narco-terrorists.”
The U.S. Navy said its forces have killed at least 43 people in strikes on alleged drug boats off South America. Trump recently stated that after getting “the sea very well under control,” the U.S. is now “looking at land.”
Venezuelan officials have called the growing U.S. presence a provocation, claiming Washington is preparing a “false flag attack” in the waters between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. The government said it captured a “mercenary group with direct information from the U.S. intelligence agency, CIA.”
The guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday to conduct joint training and exercises with local forces, joining the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, in one of the biggest U.S. military deployments to the Caribbean in decades.
Venezuela condemned the deployment as a “military provocation by Trinidad and Tobago in coordination with the CIA,” and a “serious threat to Caribbean peace.”
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday that future land strikes on Venezuela were a “real possibility,” adding that Trump plans to brief Congress on upcoming military operations.
Senator Rick Scott also warned that Maduro’s “days are numbered,” saying, “If I was Maduro, I’d head to Russia or China right now.”
The U.S. and several Western nations do not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, following the 2024 election widely dismissed as neither free nor fair. Opposition tallies suggested Maduro lost the vote by a wide margin.
Maduro has accused Washington of “fabricating war” and condemned the growing U.S. military presence near his country, calling for “peace, not war.”
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