Military Presence and Broader U.S.–Venezuela Tensions

Fourteen people are dead after the U.S. military launched strikes on two Venezuelan boats this month in international waters. President Donald Trump says they were heading towards the U.S.

That’s despite reports from several agencies saying the boat attacked two weeks ago was headed away from the U.S. when it was hit. Trump is also accusing the boats of being connected to Venezuelan drug trafficking cartels that he says posed a threat to the U.S.

Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, says the U.S. is trying to start a war.

We discuss the stakes and what we know about the situation.

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