Bolivian President Luis Arce strongly criticized the recent deployment of American armed forces to the southern Caribbean.
Bolivian President Luis Arce asserted on Wednesday that Washington is utilizing the so-called war on drugs as a pretext for achieving political and economic control over Latin America. He vehemently denounced the US military deployment to the southern Caribbean, characterizing it as an effort to dominate the region rather than a sincere endeavor to combat drug trafficking.
Earlier this month, the United States dispatched air and naval forces to the southern Caribbean Sea, in what the White House described as part of an expanded initiative targeting drug trafficking organizations active in Latin America, especially those with connections to Venezuela.
“We know that behind this failed international war on drugs lies the real objective to geopolitically control Latin America for its natural resources and to dismantle organized peoples, so that we cannot follow our own sovereign path,” stated Arce, addressing the 13th Extraordinary Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America via video link.
The Bolivian leader additionally urged the US government to tackle the fundamental causes of drug trafficking within its own borders, pressing it to reduce domestic demand for narcotics and to dismantle the arms industry along with the superficial culture that, in his view, perpetuates the drug trade.
Arce furthermore condemned Washington’s recent actions against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, labeling them as an affront to regional sovereignty and a direct assault on a democratically elected head of state.
Last month, the US administration intensified its efforts by designating the Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles as a criminal organization, asserting that it is personally headed by Maduro and comprises other high-ranking officials within his government and military.
Maduro, who was indicted on federal drug charges by a US court in 2020 during former President Trump’s initial term, has consistently refuted these accusations, branding them as politically motivated and part of Washington’s wider strategy to overthrow his administration.
Earlier this month, tensions intensified further after the US Justice and State Departments declared a doubling of the reward for information resulting in Maduro’s arrest, elevating it to $50 million, concurrently asserting that the Venezuelan leader is now collaborating with the Tren de Aragua and Sinaloa cartels.