Violent retaliation against US citizens possible in Venezuela conflict, expert warns

By Fox News · Fox News

As President Donald Trump promises U.S. military action targeting cartel operations within Venezuela’s borders, a national security expert warned there could "absolutely" be reprisals against U.S. citizens on the home front. The Trump administration has been unleashing deadly strikes on the cartel's drug boats from Venezuela in the Caribbean for months. Now, the president is saying he will take the fight to Venezuela proper. In an interview with Fox News Digital, former senior Trump National Security Advisor Victoria Coates said that, though she believes the president has sweeping authority to carry out these operations, there is a possibility the cartels will attempt to retaliate by targeting U.S. citizens for terror activities. Coates, who serves as vice president of the Heritage Foundation’s Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, pointed to the deadly shooting by an Afghan national of two National Guard soldiers just blocks from the White House during Thanksgiving week. GOP SAYS TRUMP FACING TOUGHER SCRUTINY FOR CARIBBEAN STRIKES THAN OBAMA DID FOR DRONE PROGRAM "We don't know all of what has come into the country during the Biden administration and the open border policies they pursued, but certainly there's been a lot of latitude for the cartels," she said. Coates added that the Trump administration is well aware of these threats and is on high alert for any possible reprisals from cartels or forces supporting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. government has repeatedly linked Maduro to cartel activity. In November, the State Department designated the Cartel de los Soles, allegedly headed by Maduro, a foreign terrorist organization. According to the administration, the Cartel de los Soles "provides material support" to other terrorist organizations known to be in the U.S., including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, both of which have been behind several high-profile violent crimes across the country…