Republican Rep. Backs Trump Declaring U.S. Is In 'Non-International Armed Conflict' With Cartels: 'Until The End'

Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez said he backs President Donald Trump's decision to declare that the U.S. is in a "non-international armed conflict" with cartels as it will help the administration "annihilate the Cartel de los Soles led by Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela."

"We get closer every day. Until the end," Gimenez said in a social media publication on Thursday.

The Associated Press reported that the decision from the Trump administration was notified to Congress members on Wednesday. Some lawmakers briefed on the decision, however, voiced their frustration at the Pentagon's inability to provide a list of the designated terrorist organizations in the conflict, the report added.

The outlet also noted that senators believe the decision shows the administration is seeking a new legal framework for its actions in the Caribbean, which includes several strikes against vessels it has claimed were carrying drugs and drug-traffickers. Democrats have been pressing the president to seek war powers authority for the operations, but that hasn't happened so far, raising objections from lawmakers, including Republicans.

Other reports, however, claim that the real reason for the deployment in ousting Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio playing a leading role in the push.

The New York Times reported on Monday that Rubio has been arguing that Maduro is not the country's legitimate president and oversees drug-trafficking operations to the U.S., which he described as an "imminent threat." The initiative has the support of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

The U.S. Army has drawn up plans for strikes inside Venezuela, but the White House has not approved them, the outlet added. Since they claim Maduro leads a criminal organization, removing him could be framed as a counternarcotics operation.

Tensions escalated further on Thursday after Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez claimed that five U.S. jets approached the country's coastline on Thursday, an action he described as "military harassment."

"I am denouncing this military harassment in front of the world," the official said in a televised address. "This is a great threat."

Padrino didn't specify where the incident took place nor if the country's authoritarian government will respond to the sorties.