Call to Kingdom and ABC Islands
CARACAS, WILLEMSTAD - Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has issued the order to construct "new military bases" on the Paraguaná Peninsula, the country's northernmost point on the Caribbean Sea and a short distance from Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao; according to the head of state to fight drug trafficking in this area.
“I have already given the secret orders to set up military bases in the area, new military bases. New in concept, not a traditional military base. New in concept in terms of integration with the population, in territorial occupation, in surveillance capability and also in the capacity of armed response,” the president said in a televised act.
The Spanish news agency EFE reported on it, among others, and it has since been widely published in the Latin American region, but also in Europe and America. Maduro explained that this area of the state of Falcón, located a few kilometers from the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao - belonging to the Kingdom of the Netherlands - is "one of the Colombian drug trafficking routes to Europe."
He assured that for this reason the Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana (FANB) – Bolivarian National Forces – is being deployed in the Paraguaná Peninsula as part of the operation against the "tancol", an acronym invented by the government in Caracas that does not refer to a specific gang and that means 'Colombian armed terrorist drug traffickers'.
That is why Maduro is urging the Netherlands to coordinate with Venezuela to defend the area where a "drug smuggling corridor" is active. “I call on the ambassador of the Netherlands, the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the local governments of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire to join forces and coordinate because, Venezuela is making enormous efforts to protect all this and therefore we are going to provide support,” he emphasized.
The Venezuelan president also drew attention to the beauty of this coast and called on the defense and tourism ministries to work together to create "a large tourist economic zone" to be managed by both ministries.
