Caption: This combination of pictures created on August 21, 2019 shows US President Donald Trump, left, and Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro. Via AFP

By Alicia Chamely

WHILE US president Donald Trump is suggesting that land strikes on Venezuela will be starting “very soon,” Venezuela is said to be ramping up its defenses.

And Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar changes her tune on why US Marines are in Tobago.

Speaking to US service members during a Thanksgiving call on Thursday, Trump said, “In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many. Of course, there aren’t too many coming in by sea anymore.”

He added, “You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivered by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon.”

Foreign political analysts commented that the President’s statement may indicate that he had made up his mind on a course of action in Venezuela, according to CNN.

This comes after a series of multiple high-level briefings and an increasing US show of force in the Southern Caribbean as Trump’s government formally designated the Maduro regime a foreign terrorist organization on Monday.

To date the US has deployed more than a dozen warships and 15,000 troops as part of Operation Southern Spear, aimed at disrupting the Latin American drug trade, of which Maduro was accused of being a key player.

Operation Southern Spear has become the largest deployment of US military assets in the Southern Caribbean.

Since September the US had killed more than 80 people in targeted boat strikes as part of their campaign against what had been branded “narco-terrorism.”

PM changes tune on US Marines in Tobago

Locally, on Tuesday Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar held a closed-door meeting with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, the highest-ranking officer in the US armed forces and military advisor to President Trump.

Speaking with reports outside of the Red House, Port of Spain, on Wednesday, Persad-Bissessar was asked as to whether Venezuela was a topic discussed, to which she said, “The answer is no.”

When questioned about the presence of US Marines and aircraft in Tobago, the Prime Minister said the Marines were there to help with road works and “helping with something to do with the airport.”

She added the Marines had left on Tuesday, along with General Caine.

However, continued US military activity had been confirmed in Tobago, with a United States Air Force C-17A Globemaster III landing on the island early Wednesday morning.

When this was brought up to the Prime Minister on Wednesday at the distribution of laptops to 168 students at the Penal Secondary School, the prime minister admitted the Marines were still in Tobago, however continued to deny their presence had any connection with the US Venezuela conflict.

Persad-Bissessar said the Marines were working with the T&T security forces to enhance radar detection systems in efforts to protect our shores from traffickers.

She said, “On further enquiries, just in Tobago, there are some US marines there and they’re helping us with the airport. The plan there is the runway and the road and radar. They’re going to help us to ­improve our surveillance and the intelligence of the radars for the narco-traffickers in our waters and outside our waters.”

Venezuela prepares

With the increasing pressure being placed on his regime Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had remained defiant ignoring the US’s call for regime change.

As a show of strength, the Venezuelan military had ramped up its active social media promotions of its preparations to defend against any US attacks.

Reports from Caracas indicated that the capital city was actively being fortified with defenses for both land and air attacks.

Verified by CNN, footage of concrete anti-vehicle “hedgehog” barriers and obstacles had been placed along the Caracas-La Guaira highway, a critical route that connects Caracas to the Caribbean shoreline.

CNN reported while it was unclear as to when these barriers were installed, recent satellite imagery showed them strategically placed near a “key choke point.”

Over the past week the Venezuelan military had continuously published footage of their training, and range of war assets, which include the Russian air defence system, the P-18-2M, deployed on Margarita Island.

On Wednesday Maduro addressed the nation on the state-run network VTK, revealing a “comprehensive defence plan” for Caracas and La Guaira, outlining where weapons and systems could be placed.