A U.S. guided-missile cruiser, USS Lake Erie, was seen crossing the Panama Canal from the Pacific to the Caribbean on Friday night, after the Trump administrationdeployed warshipsnear the coast of Venezuela. AFP journalists saw the naval vessel passing through one of the canal's locks at around 9:30 pm and navigating east toward the Atlantic. The United States has said the deployment of warships to the southern Caribbean, near Venezuela's territorial waters, was an anti-drug trafficking operation. "I didn't know the ship was going to pass... I was surprised," Alfredo Cedeno, a 32-year-old health technician, who took photos of the cruiser, told AFP. The Lake Erie had been moored for the past two days at the Port of Rodman, at the canal's Pacific entrance. Washington has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug cartel and hasdoubled the bountyfor his capture to $50 million. The U.S. has, however, made no public threat to invade Venezuela. Caracas announced on Monday the deployment of 15,000 security forces to the Colombian border for anti-drug trafficking operations. A day later, Venezuela announced that it would patrol its territorial waters withdrones and navy ships. Maduro also claimed to have mobilized more than four million militia members in response to what he called"outlandish threats"by the U.S. Thousands of civil servants, housewives and retireeslined upin Venezuela's capital last weekend to join the country's militia. Since returning to power in January, President Trump's attacks on Venezuela have focused chiefly on its powerful gangs, some of which operate inside the United States. But his policy ofmaximum pressure on Venezuela, including an oil embargo still in effect, failed to dislodge Maduro from power. Last year, theU.S. seized a planebelonging to Maduro and brought it to the U.S. On Thursday, Maduro said there was "no way" American troops could invade Venezuela after Washington deployed the warships to the region. The 567-foot-long USS Lake Erie displaces 9,800 tons and is based in the port of San Diego, California. Trump targeting cartels in Latin America President Trump has directed the Pentagonto use military forceagainst Latin American drug cartels deemed terrorist organizations, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News earlier this month. It's not clear if or when the military could take action. For its part, Mexico stressed that it "would not accept the participation of U.S. military forces on our territory." Earlier this month, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbauminsistedthat there would be "no invasion of Mexico." In February, the Trump administrationdesignatedeight drug trafficking groups as terrorist organizations. Six are Mexican, one is Venezuelan, and the eighth originates in El Salvador. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this month the administration could use the designations to "target" cartels. "It allows us to now target what they're operating and to use other elements of American power, intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, whatever ... to target these groups if we have an opportunity to do it," Rubio said. "We have to start treating them as armed terrorist organizations, not simply drug dealing organizations." Saturday Sessions: Waylon Wyatt performs "Arkansas Diamond" Saturday Sessions: Waylon Wyatt performs "Old Habits" Saturday Sessions: Waylon Wyatt and Bayker Blankenship perform "Jailbreak"
