Is Trump planning something big against Venezuela's Maduro?

With Washington claiming legal justification for deadly attacks on alleged Venezuelan drug runners in the Caribbean, one hot question is whether something bigger against President Nicolas Maduro is afoot.

The United States is in "armed conflict" with drug cartels, President Donald Trump said last week in a letter to Congress, asserting legal authority for at least four strikes in international waters that have killed at least 21 people in recent weeks.

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, however, still question the legality of the strikes.

CNN on Tuesday also reported on the existence of a Justice Department memo, citing people familiar with the matter, that says Trump has legal authority to order deadly force against drug cartels, claiming they pose imminent threats to Americans.

The United States has notably accused Maduro of leading a cartel.

Trump has also authorized the CIA to conduct lethal targeting in the region, CNN reported.

- 'Patience has run out' -

Attorney General Pam Bondi, testifying Tuesday in Congress, refused to confirm whether such a Justice Department memo exists.

"What I can tell you is Maduro is a narco-terrorist," Bondi said, noting her department's $50 million bounty for Maduro's capture to face US charges.

Trump, like his predecessor Joe Biden, does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president, claiming that he fraudulently retained power after elections last year.

Asked by White House reporters on Tuesday whether he wanted regime change in Venezuela, Trump said: "Well, we're not talking about that."

"We are talking about the fact that you had an election, which was a very strange election, to put it mildly."

"I can only say that billions of dollars of drugs are pouring into our country from Venezuela," he added.

Along with a small Navy armada in the Caribbean, the United States has deployed F-35 war planes to Puerto Rico.

And the Caracas government, which has placed its military on alert and mobilized citizen militia, alleged last week that the planes flew near its coast.

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Such flights and the fact that the US ships sailing off the coast of Venezuela have Marines on board, suggest that the United States might be planning some kind of escalation, said Evan Ellis, a Latin America researcher at the US War College.

"President Trump, my general sense is -- his patience has run out," said Ellis, who served under Trump during his first term.

- Pressure on Maduro -

Trump himself hinted at a broadening of fronts against Venezuelan traffickers while speaking at a US naval event on Sunday, saying: "They're not coming in by sea anymore, so now we'll have to start looking about the land -- because they'll be forced to go by land."

"And let me tell you right now, that's not going to work out well for them either," he added.

Maduro sent Trump a letter seeking dialogue, but the White House rejected the overture.

A US attack on some kind of drug trafficking target on Venezuelan soil is a possibility, said Frank Mora, a former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for the Western hemisphere during Barack Obama's first term.

"Deploying a naval flotilla to then not do anything, or simply take out some speed boats -- I do not think that is what they had in mind," Mora told AFP.

But the Trump administration does not have a clear goal, he argued.

"On one hand the president says he wants to dismantle the drug traffic. But at the same time, the hope is that this leads to the collapse of the regime," said Mora.

The clock is ticking for the Trump administration as lawmakers' opposition to the US deployment grows.

US diplomats and military experts may debate, but the final word is Trump's, as seen in other US military action like the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities.

"It's also possible that Trump could finally cut some deal that he's satisfied with and go on to the next thing," Ellis said.

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