Since last month, the US has conducted at least six strikes on suspected drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean, with the latest being carried out on Thursday.
Tensions between the US and Venezuela escalated further on Wednesday when US President Donald Trump said that he was considering strikes on Venezuelan soil.
Even though the strikes are said by the US to have happened thousands of kilometres from where he fishes, his wife has been trying to convince him to leave Lake Maracaibo.
Ms Nava tells BBC Mundo that people employed in the fishing industry fear being hit in the crossfire between US forces and alleged drug traffickers.
There is certainly a sense of nervousness among the fishermen of Lake Maracaibo.
Eight hours ago.
Gustavo Ocando Alex Reports for BBC News Mundo from Maracaibo, Venezuela.
In the muddy waters of a small bay north of Lake Maracaibo, Wilder Fernández has captured four sizable fish.
His small crew will eat dinner made from the contents of his net before heading out to fish again in the evening.
But lately, he has grown afraid to perform this everyday duty.
Mr. Fernández, a fisherman for 13 years, admits that he now worries that his work could become fatal.
He fears that a strike by a foreign power could kill him in these waters, rather than from an attacker at night, which is a threat that fishermen like him have faced in the past.
He remarks, “It’s crazy, man,” in reference to the US Navy, fighter jets, warships, and thousands of troops stationed in waters north of the Venezuelan coast.
A military operation targeting suspected “narco-terrorists” that the White House claims have ties to the Nicolás Maduro-led Venezuelan government includes the US force patrolling the Caribbean.
At least six US strikes on suspected drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean have been carried out since last month; the most recent one was carried out Thursday.
Although there have been at least 27 fatalities, Thursday’s strike seemed to be the first to include survivors on board the vessel.
Although the United States has not yet provided any proof, it has accused those who were killed of smuggling drugs. International law may make the strikes unlawful, according to experts.
When US President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that he was thinking about launching strikes on Venezuelan territory, tensions between the US and Venezuela increased even more.
Additionally, he affirmed that he had given the CIA permission to conduct clandestine operations inside Venezuela.
The most recent news is visible to Mr. Fernández.
His wife has been urging him to leave Lake Maracaibo, despite the fact that the US claims the strikes occurred thousands of kilometers away from where he fishes.
She implores him to quit his fishing job every day. “She tells me to look for another job, but there’s nowhere to go,” he says.
The possibility that his boat might be struck “by mistake” is not ruled out.
“It worries me, of course; you never know. The father of three says, “I think about it every day, man.”.
Visit BBC Mundo to read this story in Spanish.
Trump declared that a US strike in international waters off the Venezuelan coast had killed “six narco-terrorists” a day after BBC Mundo’s interview with Mr. Fernández.
Trump also stated that “intelligence verified the ship was involved in illegal narcoterrorism networks and trafficking drugs.”.
The Trump administration is offering a $50 million (£37 million) reward for information that leads to Maduro’s capture and accuses him of being the head of the Cartel of the Suns drug trafficking gang.
Maduro has denied the cartel charges, and his legitimacy as president of Venezuela is under international scrutiny following contested elections last year. He has written them off as a White House effort to remove him from office.
Venezuela’s president said Thursday in his second televised tirade against the United States in as many days: “We will never be an American colony. “..”.
The CIA had been operating in Venezuela for a long time, Maduro further claimed.
Vladimir Padrino, Venezuela’s general defense minister, has cautioned Venezuelans to “be ready for the worst.”.
General Padrino warned that his country was facing a “serious threat” that could include “aerial bombings, naval blockades, undercover commandos landing on Venezuelan beaches or in the Venezuelan jungle, swarms of drones, sabotage, and targeted killings of leaders” following the October 2 invasion of Venezuelan airspace by five F-35 fighter jets.
At last week’s United Nations Security Council, Venezuela also criticized the “mounting threats” from the United States.
At the UN meeting, John Kelley, the US representative, responded by emphasizing that his nation “will not waver in our action to protect our nation from narcoterrorists.”.
The Council of Fishermen in El Bajo, in Zulia state, Venezuela, has a spokesperson, Jennifer Nava, who bemoans the fact that the attacks in the Caribbean have compromised the safety of fishermen in Venezuela.
People working in the fishing industry are afraid of getting caught in the crossfire between US forces and suspected drug traffickers, Ms. Nava tells BBC Mundo.
Ms. Nava contends that the increased dangers fishermen face may lead some of them to turn to drug and weapons smugglers who are trying to find transporters for their illegal shipments.
She says, “Some of these guys are approached by traffickers,” and that a decline in fishing might make fishermen more susceptible to such approaches.
It is undeniable that the fishermen of Lake Maracaibo feel anxious.
When news of the US strikes reached Usbaldo Albornoz, the majority of the crew on two small fishing boats refused to work.
After 32 years in the fishing industry, Mr. Albornoz calls the current state of affairs “worrying.”.
At the beach in San Francisco de Zulia, which is located at the northern shore of Lake Maracaibo where it meets the Gulf of Venezuela, he told BBC Mundo, “The guys didn’t want to go out to sea to fish.”.
According to Mr. Albornoz, the fear of being struck by a US strike is the most recent in a long list of dangers that he and his men must deal with, which also includes oil spills, pirates, and a drop in income in recent years.
The Trump administration recently decided it was engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug-trafficking organizations, according to a leaked memo sent to US lawmakers.
Legal experts said the attacks on the boats in the Caribbean were unlawful, but the White House defended them as “self-defense.”.
But there is also a sense of defiance that goes beyond the fear that many people are feeling.
In protest of the US military deployment and in support of the Maduro government, hundreds of fishermen on dozens of boats gathered in Lake Maracaibo at the end of September.
One of them was José Luzardo. He is a nearly 40-year veteran fisherman who represents the fishermen of El Bajo and accuses the US of “pointing its cannons towards our Venezuela.”.
He claims that he is fearless and would sacrifice himself to protect his country.
“We are in a tight spot with the Trump administration. “We’ll sacrifice ourselves if necessary to protect the government, so that this whole situation ends,” he declares.
He is adamant that the fishermen want “peace and work” rather than war, but he becomes visibly irate when he mentions the “military barrier” he claims the US has put up in the Caribbean.
The Venezuelan government called on those who had not joined the civilian force to do so and organized militia members last month.
According to Fisheries Minister Juan Carlos Loyo, more than 16,000 fishermen heeded his appeal.
“Be ready for battle, wherever needed” is how Luzardo, who has been fishing since he was eleven years old, describes his plans.
“We’re not afraid, but if they [the US] want to kill us, then fair enough. “.
