WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was considering strikes targeting Venezuelan cartels on land, after a series of deadly strikes at sea against alleged drug-carrying boats. “We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, when asked if he was weighing strikes on land. But Trump declined to confirm a New York Times report that he had secretly authorized the CIA to conduct covert action in Venezuela against the administration of President Nicolas Maduro.

The Trump administration has asserted that it is treating alleged drug traffickers as unlawful combatants who must be met with military force.

Tuesday's strike is the fifth known US attack on a vessel off the Venezuelan coast, bringing the total death toll to 27.

Donald Trump declaró que está estudiando la posibilidad de llevar a cabo ataques contra el narcotráfico en territorio de Venezuela.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was considering strikes targeting Venezuelan cartels on land, after a series of deadly strikes at sea against alleged…

But the president would not be drawn on whether the CIA had been told to topple Nicolas Maduro.

US president has taken a series of escalatory steps that appear aimed at toppling the Venezuelan government.

Trump said he is considering military strikes on land targets in his campaign to halt the flow of drugs from Venezuela after five recent boat attacks.