Former ambassador: US could fire Tomahawks into Venezuela

The United States could fire long-range cruise missiles into Venezuela to ratchet up the pressure on President Nicolás Maduro, a former US diplomat has warned, as doubts reign over just how far the White House will go amid a military build-up in the southern Caribbean, Report informs via Newsweek.

US forces close to Venezuela may launch a series of Tomahawk cruise missiles at targeted sites in the South American country from outside of Caracas' territorial waters, John Feeley, former US ambassador to Panama who also served as the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, told Newsweek.

President Donald Trump's administration is almost two months into what it has characterized as an uncompromising crackdown on drug smuggling to the US, a strike campaign widely decried by Democrats and some Republicans, as well as United Nations experts and former officials as illegal under international law.

The Trump administration insists the attacks are legal.

Washington has publicly acknowledged strikes on at least 14 vessels in both the southern Caribbean and Pacific since early September. A total of 61 people have been killed, according to the administration.

The US has dramatically increased its military presence in the southern Caribbean by deploying troops, aircraft, surface vessels and a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine to the region. The USS Gerald Ford, the Navy's newest and largest aircraft carrier, is en route to the southern Caribbean with all the aircraft and warships that accompany it. US bombers have repeatedly flown close to Venezuela's coastline in recent weeks.