Luis Arce slammed the recent deployment of American armed forces in the southern Caribbean region

Washington is using the so-called war on drugs as a cover for seeking political and economic domination in Latin America, Bolivian President Luis Arce claimed on Wednesday. He strongly criticized the US military deployment to the southern Caribbean, calling it an attempt to control the region rather than genuinely combat narcotics trafficking.

The US sent air and naval forces to the southern Caribbean Sea earlier this month in what the White House called part of a broader campaign against drug trafficking groups operating in Latin America, particularly those linked to Venezuela.

"We know that behind this failed international war on drugs lies the real objective to geopolitically control Latin America for its natural resources and to dismantle organized peoples, so that we cannot follow our own sovereign path," Arce said, speaking via video link at the 13th Extraordinary Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America.

The Bolivian leader also called on the US government to address the root causes of drug trafficking at home, urging it to curb domestic demand for narcotics and dismantle the arms industry and the shallow culture that, he argued, sustains the drug trade.

Arce also decried Washington's latest steps against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as an insult to regional sovereignty and a direct attack on a democratically elected leader.

Last month, the US administration expanded its crackdown by designating the Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles as a criminal organization, alleging that it is personally led by Maduro and includes other senior officials in his government and military. 

Maduro, who was indicted on federal drug charges by a US court in 2020 during Trump's first term, has consistently denied the accusations, calling them politically motivated and part of Washington's broader campaign to topple his government.

Earlier this month, tensions escalated further after the US Justice and State Departments announced a doubling of the reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest, raising it to $50 million, while also claiming the Venezuelan leader is now collaborating with the Tren de Aragua and Sinaloa cartels.