CARACAS, FEB 19 (AFP/APP/DNA):The chief of the US military command responsible for strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats off South America, visited Venezuela Wednesday for talks with its interim government, the US embassy in Caracas said.
The embassy posted a photo on X of General Francis Donovan, head of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) responsible for operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, in the Venezuelan capital.
It said Donovan met US military personnel who guard US embassy facilities and then members of the interim government that took power after last month’s ouster of leader Nicolas Maduro in a deadly US military operation, “to assess the security situation.”
SOUTHCOM has been in charge of dozens of strikes on boats Washington claims, without providing evidence, were transporting drugs.
More than 130 people have been killed, some of them fishermen according to their families and governments.
The embassy, restaffed since the toppling of Maduro whom Washington accuses of involvement in drug trafficking, said Donovan held “productive meetings” with Venezuela’s interim authorities.
“The leaders reiterated the United States’ commitment to a free, secure, and prosperous Venezuela, for the benefit of the Venezuelan people, the United States, and the Western Hemisphere,” it said on X.
“The discussions focused on the security environment, the steps necessary to ensure the implementation of President Donald Trump’s three-phase plan — particularly the stabilization of Venezuela — and the importance of shared security throughout the Western Hemisphere.”
The previously-stated final step of the three-phase plan is “the transition to a friendly, stable, prosperous and democratic Venezuela.”
Donovan was appointed by US President Donald Trump in December, just days before the raid that led to Maduro’s capture.
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