Is Venezuela about to be fucking invaded?
>Venezuela mobilizes its militia after US says it’s deploying military forces to waters around Latin America:https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/19/americas/venezuela-maduro-militia-us-military-deployment-intl-latam>US destroyers head toward waters off Venezuela as Trump aims to pressure drug cartels:https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-destroyers-maduro-drug-cartels-e33794ebc24d9031e536d132ce205b4c>Donald Trump Deploys 3 Missile Destroyers: What to Know:https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-missile-destroyers-venezuela-drug-cartels-2115786>Proposed United States invasion of Venezuela:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_United_States_invasion_of_Venezuela>Estados Unidos, “dispuesto a usar todo su poder” contra el narcotráfico desde Venezuela:https://elpais.com/us/2025-08-19/estados-unidos-dispuesto-a-usar-todo-su-poder-contra-el-narcotrafico-desde-venezuela.htmlI don't know if you've heard the news, but several US ships have sailed towards Venezuela's coast in order to "combat drug trafficking". Someone investigate the ships to see if they're old to see if they gonna false-flag Venezuela. I know that Nothing Ever Happens, but Trump has already put a price to Maduro's head and these news… I think something's cooking, something's sizzling.
Just making this thread in the case to discuss this, and to see if there are further happenings. I'm going to be honest, I'm getting bad vibes from this.
Three U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers have been deployed off the coast of Venezuela as part of President Donald Trump’s plan to combat drug cartels in Latin America.
A source familiar with the move confirmed to Scripps News that the destroyers include the USS Gravely, the USS Jason Dunham and the USS Sampson. The deployment will bring the U.S. military posture in the area to about 4,000 sailors and Marines.
According to Reuters, the broader region will also have several Boeing P-8 Poseidon spy planes, warships and at least one attack submarine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked about the U.S. military going after drug traffickers late last week and said it's a goal President Donald Trump has made clear.
"There are designated narco-terrorist groups operating in the region, some of them utilizing international airspace, international waters, to transit poison into the United States," Rubio said. "And those groups will be confronted.
https://www.10news.com/us-news/military/us-navy-destroyers-head-toward-venezuela-as-trump-seeks-to-combat-drug-cartelsWASHINGTON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - The United States has ordered an amphibious squadron to the southern Caribbean as part of President Donald Trump's effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels, two sources briefed on the deployment said on Wednesday.
The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the USS San Antonio, USS Iowa Jima and USS Fort Lauderdale could arrive off the coast of Venezuela as early as Sunday. The ships are carrying 4,500 service members, including 2,200 Marines, the sources said.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-orders-amphibious-squadron-deploy-southern-caribbean-sources-2025-08-20/>>2441049For all of ziggers flaws i don't see them dickride the US now that Trump is president like i thought they would.
Some of them did a 180° into based racist atlanticist though, but they're not zigger anymore by definition.
>>2441604I'm all NEHgang but now I'm against this instance of thing accelerating
The Don wants his Nobel and I bet he is more willing to a siege rather than ground, why? Because they are still waiting for the opposition to do the heckin Couperino that will bring back foreign capital without oblivious treaties that favour the exploited country, remember than an imperial troop is valued at 1000 natives
>>2440544>The oldest of those ships is USS Iwo Jima, which has had about 24 years of service, being deployed in 2001. Don't know if that's old enough.Not that old for a warship. It carries Marines. It's also part of a group with a few other landing ships that also carry Marines and amphibious vehicles called AAVs (and hovercraft). But just a few thousand Marines between them.
>>2441038>I think this one might actually happen though.Well this is nowhere close to what they'd need to invade Venezuela so I think it's probably more intended to look threatening. That is euphemistically called "naval diplomacy."
>>2441042>This. I am all in on nothing. More sanctions and shit. Maybe some silly assaasination drone hijinks or US funded protesters/saboteurs. Yeah.
>>2441138>OuiI was reading about him awhile ago and him getting in trouble for saying the Jews are pervs (true) but it's like, c'mon bro you're French. And then in his early life he was a pick-up artist.
>>2447226It doesn't matter that nobody believes it. Legally, it grants the power to do the deeds necessary to escalate if so desired. And PR wise, this is no different from masking prejudice and legitimizing right wing thuggery behind law and order. The base wants it, and plays along with the pretexts to get it. And its bipartisan.
And fuck me, I'm an euro and my "left wing" part of the MSM, blatantly a PR part of the main socdem party, has been doing propaganda to sell every US narrative about the cold war (including Zionism) with a meager "but Trump" at the end. Now they are all poker facing about the US and focusing on how "the tyrant" Maduro fears the end of Venezuelas (his) drug cartel operations.
We are hosting and recognizing the next Guaido afterall:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240913IPR23907/venezuela-meps-recognise-edmundo-gonzalez-as-president >>2454487>>2454488Russia has enough arms (barely) for the war in Ukraine but they don't have anything to spare to another country. They are using everything they produce in Ukraine now and any increases are earmarked for the war.
If you think Russia is going to come save Venezuela you're delusional. Not only are the Russians massive cucks who would do nothing that could even theoretically make America mad but they simply don't have enough spare weapons to change anything. Especially in crucial areas like air defense.
>>2454528>Russia has enough arms (barely) for the war in Ukraine but they don't have anything to spare to another country.I don't believe you're correct about that. If anything with the increases in production and the ongoing attrition of the UAF there should be an accumulation of weapons happening. I think it would also depend on what weapon systems Venezuela actually has already, like what sort of artillery for example, that Russia could theoretically supply. If you have any kind of hard data you can share that indicates otherwise I'd be happy to see it though.
The political situation is another matter. Personally I don't think they'd take the US savaging yet another country lying down, especially not a prospective BRICS member. Even if the will is there to do something though I don't see them actually being able to take any direct actions to intervene outside of diplomatic or economic support.
>Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed a UN report claiming that most drug-trafficking in South America takes place in Colombia and Ecuador, rather than Venezuela, as a reason not to go after the country's authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro."I don't care what the UN says. He's a fugitive from U.S. justice indicted by a New York grand jury. He's not the legitimate leader of Venezuela," Rubio added.
The Secretary of State said on Wednesday in Mexico that the order to "blow up" the vessel rather than interdict it came from President Donald Trump.
"And it will happen again," Rubio added. Before heading to the neighboring country, Rubio had already anticipated that the Trump administration will l "go on the offense" against cartels.
While he said that the U.S. was prepared to support Ecuador in its fight against drug traffickers, he added that the relationship between the two countries would not be about security only. The secretary of state said the U.S. is looking to expand its already “vibrant economic relationship” with the South American nation.
Rubio also referenced “cooperative governments,” which he said would help the U.S. identify and locate drug traffickers.
“They’re going to help us identify them – they’re going to help us find these people and blow them up, if that’s what it takes. They’re going to help us with it,” Rubio said.
Trump is "going to use the full power of America and the full might of the us to take on and eradicate these drug cartels no matter where they're operating from and no matter how long they've been able to act with impunity," Rubio said.
Earlier on Wednesday Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth explicitly warned the country's authoritarian President, Nicolas Maduro, saying he "should be worried" after the development.
"The only one who should be worried is Nicolas Maduro, who is acting as the kingpin of a narco state. Not actually elected and indicted for $50 million by the U.S. We know he's involved in the kind of drug-running that has affected the American people directly," Hegseth said.
https://www.latintimes.com/marco-rubio-rejects-un-report-about-drug-production-venezuela-i-dont-care-what-un-says-589192https://www.wzdm.com/2025/09/04/rubio-says-trump-wants-to-wage-war-on-venezuelan-drug-traffickers-blow-them-up-if-thats-what-it-takes/Update
This is from August 29th 1 week ago about Maduro and plans from administration from sources on what they will do. It's interesting
>What they're saying: "This is 105% about narco-terrorism, but if Maduro winds up no longer in power, no one will be crying," said one Trump administration official familiar with the policy discussions.Another administration official had a different view. "This could be Noriega part 2," the official said, referring to the U.S. military's 1989 operation to capture Panamanian President Manuel Noriega, who — like Maduro — faced U.S. drug-trafficking charges.
"The president has asked for a menu of options. And ultimately, this is the president's decision about what to do next, but Maduro should be s***ting bricks," the official said.
A third Trump adviser put it this way: "Leaving Maduro in power in Venezuela is like making Jeffrey Epstein the head of a daycare."
State of play: While administration officials have refused to rule out an invasion, nearly all privately believe it unlikely.
What's next: The prevailing administration hope is that Maduro negotiates an exit or is assassinated by members of the military anxious to collect the bounty or normalize ties with the U.S.
While an actual invasion force is hard for many to envision, officials see aggressive interdictions of suspected drug-running boats off Venezuela as all but certain. Said one official: "Some boats will definitely be caught or sunk."
Airstrikes are also a possibility. Sources speculated that targets could include sparsely populated jungle areas where cocaine production or cartel activity is suspected, or a new Russian-built ammunition plant.
Some in Trump's orbit even think Maduro could be targeted in a drone strike, given he is officially a terror suspect. Officials who spoke to Axios downplayed that possibility.
Officials acknowledge some of their beliefs about whether Maduro might flee or who would succeed him are highly speculative. After all, Trump tried for regime change in Caracas in his first term, and failed.
One U.S. official said the assumption is there's little real loyalty to Maduro inside the regime, except where he can buy it. "Where he goes, I don't think we much care. There are others in Venezuela that are equipped to run a country as well or better than he did. We're not picking any favorites."
"He might be stuck because the Cubans around him won't let him leave," said another Trump adviser. "So he might just leave in a body bag."
https://www.axios.com/2025/08/29/venezuela-ships-trump-maduro-regime-changeAnother update on this
Trump plays down possible regime change in Venezuela; US deploys stealth fighter jets
The United States is not talking about regime change in Venezuela, President Donald Trump said on Friday, as the United States ordered an additional 10 stealth fighter jets to a military buildup in the Caribbean.
"We're not talking about that, but we are talking about the fact that you had an election which was a very strange election, to put it mildly," Trump said, referring to the contested 2024 election the Venezuelan government says President Nicolas Maduro won.
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Trump had been asked by reporters about a claim Maduro has made this week that the United States was seeking "regime change through military threat."
"The government of the United States should abandon its plan of violent regime change in Venezuela and in all of Latin America and respect sovereignty, the right to peace, to independence," Maduro said on state television.
"I respect Trump. None of the differences we've had can lead to a military conflict," Maduro added. "Venezuela has always been willing to converse, to dialogue."
Trump demonstrated his new approach to fighting the drug war with a U.S. military strike on Tuesday that killed 11 people and sank a boat from Venezuela which Trump said was transporting illegal narcotics.
The U.S. president is weighing options for further strikes, including potentially attacking suspected drug cartel targets inside Venezuela, CNN reported on Friday, citing multiple sources briefed on the administration's plans. Such a strike would mark a major escalation.
The White House, Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on the report.
>'THEY'LL BE SHOT DOWN'
The Trump administration has ordered the deployment of 10 F-35 fighter jets to a Puerto Rico airfield to conduct operations against drug cartels, sources told Reuters on Friday.
The new deployment comes on top of an already bristling U.S. military presence in the southern Caribbean as Trump carries out a campaign pledge to crack down on groups funneling drugs into the United States.
The disclosure about the F-35s came just hours after the Pentagon accused Venezuela of a "highly provocative" flight on Thursday by fighter jets near a U.S. Navy warship.
Trump warned Venezuela that the U.S. military had authorization to shoot down the jets if commanders believed they needed to, saying: "If they do put us in a dangerous position, they'll be shot down."
At every turn, the Trump administration has sought to tie Maduro's government to narco trafficking, allegations Caracas denies.
Specifically, Trump has accused Maduro of running the Tren de Aragua gang, which his administration designated a terrorist organization in February. Maduro has denied any connection to Tren de Aragua, which his government says was rendered inactive in Venezuela by a prison raid in 2023.
Trump on Friday compared the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans in overdoses to war dead, as he sought to justify the muscular military activity in the Caribbean.
"Think if you're in a war and you lose 300,000 … We're not going to allow it to happen," he said.
Venezuela's Communications Ministry did not respond to a request for comment about the F-35s or the allegations that Venezuelan fighter jets flew over a U.S. warship.
<DEMOCRAT CONDEMNS 'LAWLESS' ACTS
The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity about the latest U.S. deployment, said the 10 fighter jets are being sent to conduct operations against designated narco-terrorist organizations operating in the southern Caribbean. The planes should arrive in the area by late next week, they said.
F-35s are highly advanced stealth fighters and would be effective in combat against Venezuela's air force, which includes F-16 aircraft.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two Venezuelan F-16s flew over the guided missile destroyer Jason Dunham on Thursday. The Dunham is one of at least seven U.S. warships deployed to the Caribbean, carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines.
U.S. Marines and sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit have also been carrying out amphibious training and flight operations in southern Puerto Rico.
The buildup has put pressure on Maduro, whom U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called "effectively a kingpin of a drug narco state."
U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, condemned what she called Trump's "lawless" actions in the southern Caribbean.
"Congress has not declared war on Venezuela, or Tren de Aragua, and the mere designation of a group as a terrorist organization does not give any President carte blanche to ignore Congress's clear Constitutional authority on matters of war and peace," Omar said in a statement.
U.S. officials have not clearly explained what legal justification was used for Tuesday's air strike on the boat or what drugs were on board.
Trump said on Tuesday, without providing evidence, that the U.S. military had identified the crew of the vessel as Tren de Aragua members.
Maduro: Venezuela will enter armed struggle if attacked
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro warned that his country would "enter a phase of armed struggle" if it were subjected to any attack, while stressing that it "has always been ready for dialogue, but demands respect."
Maduro added, in a message broadcast on Venezuelan radio and television stations, that "none of the disagreements between Venezuela and the United States can lead to a military conflict," urging Washington to abandon its plan to change the regime in Caracas.
Addressing his US counterpart, Donald Trump, the Venezuelan president added, "The attempt by some Trump officials to change the regime in Venezuela is a mistake."
Maduro also denied Trump's accusations that he "leads a drug cartel," asserting that Venezuela is "a country free of cocaine production," describing the American claim as "a blatant and deceptive lie, like the lie that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction."
"The intelligence reports they are providing to Trump are incorrect," he said. "Venezuela today is a country free of coca leaf and cocaine production, and it is a country fighting drug trafficking."
<Trump threatens to shoot down Venezuelan aircraft
The Venezuelan president's remarks came hours after his US counterpart threatened to shoot down Venezuelan military aircraft "if they pose a threat to US forces," he said.
It also came after CNN , citing informed sources, reported that Trump was "studying a range of options against drug gangs operating in Venezuela."
While Trump claims to be fighting drug trafficking in Venezuela, as a justification for the US military buildup in the Caribbean and Latin America, the latest manifestation of which was the dispatch of 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico, sources said his options include "strikes on targets inside Venezuela, as part of a broader strategy aimed at weakening Maduro."
Meanwhile, CBS News quoted Pentagon officials as saying that Venezuelan aircraft flew over the USS Jason Dunham for the second time.
Maduro announced the activation of the "Bolivarian Militia for the Defense of Venezuela" for the first time, calling up more than 8 million people to ensure the country's stability and freedom
Maduro announces a "special offensive" to strengthen internal security in Venezuela
The president referred to this plan as a "new stage" of work in which "two strengths" will come together, those of the communal circuits (units of popular organization) and the "police-military power", represented by the so-called "peace quadrants".
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, announced on Tuesday the start of a "special offensive" to strengthen security throughout the country, a plan that, he said, seeks to integrate civilian, military, and police forces, reports EFE.
"Today marks the start of a special offensive to launch this line that will strengthen internal security in all 24 states of the country, especially in the capital Caracas," Maduro stated in an event broadcast by the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), without delving into details about the deployment.
For the president, strengthening security involves "the concrete popular-military fusion on the ground".
"With permanent action plans, focusing on life, community, but specifically on issues of tranquility, peace, and the fight against crime in all its forms," he added.
During his speech, Maduro referred to this plan as a "new stage" of work in which "two strengths" will come together, those of the communal circuits (units of popular organization) and the "police-military power", represented by the so-called "peace quadrants".
In 2018, Maduro announced the creation of the "Great Mission Peace Quadrants", with the aim of ensuring citizen security in the country.
The 'peace quadrants', according to official reports, are organizations made up of police forces and community leaders to design work methodologies against crime in areas spanning two to five kilometers.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, shared a video on social media announcing a $50 million reward for information leading to the capture of Maduro, whom she identified as a threat to U.S. security.
Bondi accused the Venezuelan leader of using "foreign terrorist organizations such as Sinaloa and the Cartel of the Suns to introduce lethal drugs and violence" into the U.S., an assertion that has been rejected by numerous institutions, as well as Venezuelan police and military bodies.
On Tuesday, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, warned of what he considered a "serious military threat" from the U.S., a country that, he said, "shelters under the alleged right" to combat drug trafficking to "turn" Latin America into a "new scenario of colonial war".
Through a post on Telegram, in which he informed about a meeting with the accredited diplomatic corps in Venezuela, Gil made an "urgent call" to the international community to "repudiate these terrorist acts" instigated - he pointed out - by the U.S. government and "its fascist allies from the Venezuelan right".
Venezuela rejects supremacism
On Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro held a press conference with representatives of international media in which he analyzed the current geopolitical situation in the Caribbean.
During this meeting with journalists, the Bolivarian leader addressed the international situation from multiple angles, the main ones of which are presented below.
“There are still those who want to impose supremacism and view us from afar as we did in the era of colonization,” Maduro said, questioning the patterns of international domination.
“The heirs of the old colonialisms and supremacisms hold power and still view our nations with contempt and arrogance,” he emphasized, highlighting that global awareness against all forms of supremacism is awakening.
“A global awareness is rising that will not allow, under any circumstances, the imposition of a new type of supremacism or colonialism, either in Our America or in the rest of the world.”
Commander Chavez’s legacy has allowed the Bolivarian nation to defeat the blockade
President Maduro maintained that although Commander Hugo Chavez died 12 years ago, his ideas and work live on in the revolutionary socialism that Venezuela champions.
“We fought against the sanctions and the blockade and defeated them… Today, Venezuela’s economic system is robust. We also fought and defeated the political blockade.”
The attack on the Venezuelan presidential image seeks to destabilize the country
The Bolivarian leader emphasized that “empires need to demonize a leader to demonize a project… The attack is not against Maduro but against a people and a sacred history. Gentlemen imperialists: You have not been able, nor will you be able, now or ever, to defeat that history.”
The Bolivarian leader reaffirmed Venezuela’s position as a bastion of anti-colonialism and resistance, emphasizing that his nation stands as an example of a new global consciousness that rejects hegemonic power dynamics.
“Its words resonate in a geopolitical context marked by multipolarity, where the global south seeks to consolidate its sovereignty in the face of external interference,” he said.
Maduro described Venezuela’s historical trajectory as a path of struggle, resistance, and revolution that extends into the 21st century through humanistic socialism. “This development model is distinguished by its inclusive nature and its commitment to the majority,” President Maduro explained.
Solidarity SVG Calls to Condemn the US Threats On Venezuela’s Sovereignty: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Solidarity with Venezuela Committee issued a statement calling for action in the face of the recent violation of Venezuelan maritime space by a US flotilla -which includes a nuclear submarine and more than 4,000 troops- constitutes an illegitimate aggression under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
“Saint Vincent & The Grenadines and CARICOM nations cannot but be very concerned about the violations of Venezuela’s sovereign maritime space by a flotilla of US warships and a nuclear-powered submarine, in the name of fighting drugs,” the statement reads.
Also the SVG Solidarity with Venezuela Committee recalls that United Nations agencies have repeatedly reported that Venezuela is not complicit in the illegal drugs trade and that “Caracas has always cooperated fully with international agencies in combatting the drug trade.”
The US military operation is described as a dangerous action that could lead to a war with serious consequences for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Caribbean, Latin America and the whole world.
Solidarity SVG highlights the current international context, marked by war in Ukraine, genocide in Gaza and Palestine, and other conflicts, which require efforts to maintain peace and not to encourage military interventions and threats in the region.
The solidarity committee also recalls with gratitude Venezuela’s solidarity with the Caribbean countries, especially through initiatives such as PetroCaribe and the Free Trade Area for Latin America and the Caribbean project, which have directly benefited nations like yours.
More than 300 Venezuelans return home from the US
A total of 319 Venezuelans—281 men, 31 women, 6 boys, and 1 girl—arrived this Friday at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, La Guaira, from Texas, United States, on flight 63 of the (Gran Misión Vuelta a la Patria) Great ”Return to the Homeland” Mission.
The returnees were received by Venezuelan authorities, including officials from the Scientific, Criminal, and Criminal Investigation Corps (CICPC), the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB), and the Bolivarian National Police Corps.
The Return to the Homeland Plan offers legal assistance, educational, cultural, and sports reintegration, and socioeconomic protection, consolidating itself as a humanitarian initiative for the safe return of Venezuelans.
Russia Backs Venezuela and Condemns U.S. Warship Deployment in the Caribbean
Russia expressed its full support for the Venezuelan government and people amid the deployment of U.S. warships in the Caribbean.
“Practices of military intervention must remain in the past,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said after the U.S. deployed warships off the Venezuelan coast.
The Russian diplomat confirmed that her country “categorically rejects the threat of the use of force against sovereign states as an instrument of foreign policy.”
Venezuela has “the inalienable right to freely determine its political, economic and social path without external pressures,” she said, warning the international community about the risks implied by the U.S. militarization of the Caribbean.
On Thursday, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez announced that the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) have neutralized a total of 402 aircraft linked to drug trafficking in operations carried out across the country.
The most recent operation took place in Maroa municipality in Amazonas state, where Venezuelan troops captured an aircraft, disabled a logistics camp and seized strategic materials from criminal groups.
“Nothing stops us! Venezuela has not been and will not be a route for illicit drug trafficking!” Padrino Lopez said on social media.
The defense minister reaffirmed the Venezuelan government’s ongoing commitment to combating transnational organized crime, particularly in border and strategic areas.
These results contrast with international narratives that portray Venezuela as a narco state, he said, arguing that concrete actions and verifiable figures demonstrate the effectiveness of national security operations.
Pretty interesting article from Tom Sharp in the Torygraph:
I’ve gone up against drug smugglers in the Caribbean. Here’s my take on Trump’s new Venezuela war
The situation with Venezuela has been brewing for some time but with boats allegedly carrying drugs now subject to trial-by-missile and Maduro’s jets buzzing US destroyers, it shows all the signs of escalating further. Or as far as a mismatch of this magnitude is able to, at least.
Perhaps the start of this latest crescendo was in February this year when the US president terminated Venezuela’s Temporary Protected Status and ramped up sanctions. President Maduro, not unsurprisingly, immediately reached out to Russia for support.
Then in August, Trump signed a directive authorising the use of force against Latin American cartels and framing Venezuela as a narco-state hub for fentanyl. There has also been a pretty remarkable deployment of US naval force into the area, starting with three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. This increase led to questions about whether or not this was a precursor to a “blockade” of some sort. The destroyers were followed by a Wasp-class big deck amphibious assault ship and two amphibious transport docks – what the US calls an “amphibious ready group”. These ships are the mobile base for the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit – 2,500 US Marines with all their amazing toys: tiltrotors, stealth jumpjets, hovercraft, swimming armour and the rest. Then to top things off a Ticonderoga-class missile cruiser and a nuclear powered attack submarine arrived on the scene. By this point people were not talking “blockade” but “invasion”.
Trump’s Venezuela task group counts 140,200 tons of ships. That’s more than Britain’s one and only Carrier Strike Group, which is in the Indo-Pacific just now. In fact, the USN has deployed about half of the Royal Navy’s cumulative warship and attack submarine tonnage – just for Venezuela.
We’ve now seen an event that may have ratcheted the tension to new levels. A small vessel, allegedly operated by Venezuelan drug cartel “Tren de Aragua” with 11 suspected gang members onboard, was destroyed by an air-to-surface missile – most likely from an MQ-9 “Reaper” drone.
The debate on the legality of this was not long coming, with various lawyers predominantly saying, “I think we just witnessed a war crime” and the vice-president of the USA – a graduate of Yale Law School – saying, “I don’t give a s–t”. Trump and his people believe that having designated Tren de Aragua as terrorists, they can be killed on the president’s orders: as Osama bin Laden was on the orders of then president Obama, or as General Qasem Soleimani of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was during Trump’s first term.
I have a couple of thoughts on the engagement, having operated against drug smugglers in those parts back in the day. First, I don’t think that boat had the legs to make it to the mainland US. More likely it was bound for an island in the Caribbean or planning a transfer to another boat. This muddies the waters.
Second, I’ve never seen a drug smuggling boat like this with 11 people onboard. Six is the most I’ve ever seen, and that was a larger boat – and two of those were… umm… on our side. Speed is everything in that game. This boat was overweight and, in the clip where they were engaged at least, only doing about 20 knots. This is unusual. The boats we chased were so fast – 60 plus knots – we had to send our helicopter to chase them down. The helicopter would carry a Royal Marine sniper who would shoot out their engines with a heavy rifle so that we could catch them in the ship.
Third, on the two occasions I did counter-drug operations in the Caribbean, US intelligence was not always right as to who was a smuggler and who wasn’t. In fact, we preferred working with the Dutch out of Curaçao who were faster and more accurate. I’m not saying US intelligence in this case was wrong, just saying that they don’t have a God’s eye picture at all times.
Finally, we also considered this kind of interdiction a law enforcement activity, not counter-terrorism or combat. We would have a US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) embarked to carry out the actual arrests (we didn’t use British people as doing this part of the job could mean a lot of time spent in court in the US). The chase and the sniping were clearly military activities but then the LEDET would board the boat and cuff the smugglers. The idea of setting out to kill the bad guys was never even discussed and is a change that has surprised most of us familiar with how these operations are conducted. Those in favour of this change in attitude may say “this is what we voted for”. In terms of deterrence it’s hard to argue with, no matter how many difficulties you have with the legality – or how many times you ask “Where does this shift in policy end up?”
Both sides have their aims. The US wants to choke some of the drug pipelines fuelling its horrifying opioid problem which is killing more than 100,000 Americans every year. Trump projects toughness, eyeing domestic gains by labelling Venezuela a narco-threat.
Maduro for his part just wants regime survival. Venezuela is in rickety condition. Oddly, its oil – arguably its main legitimate business – can only be sold easily to America, which has refineries set up to deal with its “sour” sulphurous crude. But a lot of money can be made selling other things to America, and Trump’s allegations that Venezuela is now a “narco-state” are perfectly credible.
“What’s next” is less clear, to me at least. There is certainly room to escalate further. Venezuela could increase grey-zone activities such as harassment of tankers, undersea sabotage, use of drones, GPS jamming etc. They have a stock of mines and even suggesting these are in use can impact shipping and insurance rates.
One thing is for sure, the Venezuelans should stop buzzing the US destroyers in their F-16 fighter jets. This is a bad idea. It achieves very little and it would be the easiest thing in the world for the US Navy to destroy one in self-defence, particularly now that they have new and permissive rules of engagement. It’s an incredibly foolish move to fly a plane anywhere in line of sight of an Arleigh Burke that might be willing to take a shot at you. One of the things I have quite admired about the US Navy over the years – just from a purely military perspective, as a missile man myself – is that they generally don’t need much encouragement in this regard.
But as an older and wiser head these days, I’d say there’s already quite enough trouble in the world today. It’s to be hoped that Trump and Maduro can resolve their differences – or at any rate, rub along somehow – without getting any more people killed.
This is looking less and less good by the day, anons. You should probably start paying attention.
Top U.S. Military Leaders Visit Puerto Rico As Caribbean Operations Aimed At Venezuela Heat Up
he Pentagon’s two top leaders traveled to Puerto Rico amid growing tensions with Venezuela and its leader, Nicolas Maduro. The U.S. territory is serving as a staging ground for the arrival of equipment and personnel as the Trump administration continues bringing assets to the fight against drug cartels. The Trump administration considers Maduro a narco-terrorist and cartel leader.
During his visit, Hegseth flew a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey to the USS Iwo Jima, the lead ship in the Iwo Jima Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG). The ship is part of the counter-narcotics effort and currently stationed about 30 miles south of Puerto Rico.
The visit was embraced by Puerto Rico’s governor.
“Honored to welcome Secretary of War Pete Hegseth…along with General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff…to Puerto Rico,” Jennifer González-Colón said on X Monday morning. President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order changing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War.
“We thank POTUS Trump and his Administration for recognizing the strategic value Puerto Rico has to the national security of the United States and the fight against drug cartels in our hemisphere, perpetuated by narco-dictator Nicolas Maduro. We are proud to support America First policies that secure our borders and combat illicit activities to protect Americans and our homeland.”
Hegseth and Caine met with González-Colón at the Muñiz Air National Guard Base in Isla Verde, according to the Puerto Rican El Nuevo Dia media outlet.
The War Secretary “delivered a message to nearly 300 soldiers there, according to the governor, who was accompanied by the adjutant general of the National Guard. Colonel Carlos José Rivera Román, and the Secretary of Public Security, Arturo Garffer,” the publication reported.
The visit to Puerto Rico comes as some 4,500 sailors and Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) continue to conduct amphibious landing training exercises that began Aug. 31.
“Although the Pentagon initially reported that these were routine exercises, the increased military presence in Puerto Rico—which has sparked protests—was gradually linked to the Trump administration’s show of force in waters near Venezuela,” El Nuevo Dia posited.
The Pentagon has declined to comment about the trip to Puerto Rico by Hegseth and Caine, but it comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump offered an ominous response to a question about whether American forces will strike drug cartel targets inside Venezuela.
“Well, you’re going to find out,” Trump answered. He offered no further explanation about what he meant.
The U.S. has already carried out one kinetic strike, against a suspected drug boat operated by the Tren de Aragua (TDA) cartel. TDA has been deemed a narco-terror organization by Trump. The attack destroyed the vessel, killing 11 people on it, Trump announced last week. The incident has raised questions about killing suspects without a trial and the use of force without Congressional approval.
Trump and Hegseth have both said that deadly strikes against cartels will continue.
Images emerged on social media of at least two MQ-9 Reaper drones in Puerto Rico. They appear to be there as part of the counter-narcotics mission. These aircraft can carry a variety of missiles as well as sensors for surveillance and can loiter for more than 24 hours over a target, making them an ideal platform for these missions. Reuters took a photo of one of the Reapers carrying sensor pods and armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.
The New York Times reported that a Reaper could have been involved in the boat attack.
We have reached out to the Air Force, Pentagon and White House for further clarification, as well as details about how often, if at all, Reapers have been so deployed to fight drug trafficking in the Caribbean. We also asked for comment on whether at least one Reaper took part in the attack on the drug boat, which is a likely scenario. The Air Force deferred us to the Pentagon. We will update this story with any pertinent details provided.
Of note is that the U.S. in the past months has operated MQ-9 variants over Mexico in the fight against cartels there. There have also been unarmed variants operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seen in Puerto Rico.
In response to the boat attack, Venezuelan Air Force F-16 Vipers conducted a flight near the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham, a U.S. official confirmed to us. CBS News reported a second encounter, but The War Zone cannot independently verify that.
Meanwhile, Trump on Friday said that U.S. Navy ships can shoot down Venezuelan aircraft that “put us in a dangerous position.”
The Dunham is one of at least eight warships, including a Los Angeles class nuclear-powered submarine, that have been ordered to the Caribbean by Trump. A U.S. official told us on Monday that those ships have not moved since we wrote about this deployment last week.
As we recently pointed out, the American leader also ordered 10 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to deploy to Puerto Rico, though it remains unclear where they will come from, when they arrive and what they will do once they get there. However, as we have previously pointed out, the F-35 offers a lot of capabilities. In addition to carrying out strikes, these fifth-generation aircraft also have a variety of sensors that make it an ideal intelligence-gathering platform. You can read more about that here.
In addition, open source flight trackers have pointed that numerous U.S. transport aircraft have been making trips to Puerto Rico. There have been no official indications that additional troops are on the way for this effort; however, the transports could be carrying manpower and materiel needed for a sustained campaign.
While ostensibly to counter drug trafficking, a source familiar with these operations told us that the deployments are also a message to Maduro.
The Venezuelan leader was indicted in a New York federal court in 2020, during the first Trump presidency. He and 14 others, including several close allies, were hit with federal charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy with the Colombian FARC insurgent group to import cocaine. The U.S., as we previously mentioned, has issued a $50 million reward for his capture.
Speaking of, Maduro, on Sunday, he claimed he was moving 25,000 more troops to the border with Colombia in an effort to fight drug traffickers. Whether that is a real deployment or will have any effect on U.S. operations is unlikely.
As we have noted, the presence of high-end assets like 10 F-35s does not necessarily signal that the U.S. is planning to go to to war directly with Venezuela.
As more assets arrive in the region in the coming days, we will keep you informed on how the mission develops.
<Update: 5:13 PM Eastern –
The Pentagon released a video of Hegseth addressing troops aboard the Iwo Jima.
“Make no mistake about it, what you’re doing right now, it’s not training,” he proclaimed. “This is the real-world exercise on behalf of the vital national interests of the United States of America to end the poisoning of the American people.”
>>2466690He is Argentinian, probably a Mileist who came from the ships who supports video attached.
If he defends his class interest would be understandable, being in a neocolonial bourg is relative easier than a industrial one, but a facho pobre is a facho pobre
>>2466626holy shit such a colossal cunt
>In terms of deterrence it’s hard to argue withnot really. Drug running in latam is a plenty dangerous business, if risk of death was a dealbreaker nobody would be doing it, and what is the likelihood they will expend a missile on every random fucking boat
>The US wants to choke some of the drug pipelines fuelling its horrifying opioid problem thats complely false and ertarded, the aim is clearly pure poltiical posturing spectacle and communication on one side, and pressur on venezuela on the other, it has nothing to do with drugs
also, the US opioid problem, entirely self inflicted, is as far as I know mostly coming from completely legal sources, nobody bother to smuggle fentanyl into the us
>Maduro for his part just wants regime survivaland venezuelan sovereignty, and the resources on its soil to serve its social programs rather than fill US petro companies pockets
but libs will never admit to this, as the mere concept of serving the people rather than businesses and international finance is anathema to them
>Trump’s allegations that Venezuela is now a “narco-state” are perfectly crediblewhat? no they're absolutely not you fuckface
really show how much they are two faced little bitches running pure imperial propaganda while cloaking it behind super mild criticism
>the Venezuelans should stop buzzing the US destroyers in their F-16 fighter jets. This is a bad ideaoh yeah, when we come threaten you in your own waters, you should be a submissive little bitch and not even attempt to monitor our hostile deployments.
>it would be the easiest thing in the world for the US Navy to destroy one in self-defence>self defenceas yes the famous self defence of invading a sovereign nation space and then shooting at them
also dont be too confident cunt destroying a us navy boat with an anti ship missile isnt that hard either
>One of the things I have quite admired about the US Navy over the years – just from a purely military perspective, as a missile man myself – is that they generally don’t need much encouragement in this regard.<yeesss I love shooting missiles without good reasons, BLOOD FOR THE EMPIRE
>’s to be hoped that Trump and Maduro can resolve their differences <my country unilaterally attack and try to destroy a poor country for decades for having the audacity to not be our bitches<I hope we can "resolve our differences"these people should really get gulaged
>>2468353https://www.telesurtv.net/venezuela-fanb-operacion-psicologica-ee-uu/Another day, another
<Venezuelan armed forces denounce another US attempt to create a false positive to justify interventionIn short, another fabricated Tonkin, now a helicopter and the vz are cutting before loose that they are not touching said aircrafts.
The clock ticks but does not move, for the better I hope
>>2484150>Navy seals sure go trough a lot of training to murder random fishermenThe only guy I knew of being in the US army, was on some big-ish ship or another. And his tenure, he said, consisted of being assigned menial (sometimes pointless) chores, doing about half of it and then finding places to hide and spend the rest of the time playing vidya on a handheld or on the phone and fapping.
I don't think it's the tacticool operators doing these things. Those they send into the DPRK to plant spy devices, with the full MGS getup only to get scared by fishermen , massacre them and then run away scared before starting. Apparently.
This is a nothingburger, and the "regime change" goals are rather auxiliary or accidental, which are going to depend in the capacity of Venezuelan´s elite to maintain stability within the military. The drug question is, for the most part, an alibi as well. In my opinion, whatever the US is doing at the moment is, if you will, a show of force in a period of hegemonic collapse. They are showing us who´s really the lord this hemisphere: themselves. Venezuela is just the perfect candidate to show that: rogue-state, major hub of distribution for drug cartels, and "undemocratic" (if you think the 2024 election results were legitimate, you are a monkey).
Venezuelan troops to give weapons training in poor neighborhoods: Maduro
Caracas: Venezuelan troops will give weapons training to residents of low-income neighborhoods this weekend as part of President Nicolas Maduro's response to a US military build-up in the Caribbean, near his country.
Maduro, who accuses Washington of planning to invade Venezuela, said late Thursday that troops will go into communities "to teach all those men and women who enlisted (in a civilian militia) how to handle weapons systems."
Speaking on state television, the leftist strongman, whom the United States accuses of heading a drug cartel, said it would be the first time soldiers would take their weapons out of the barracks into communities for training purposes.
The biggest US naval deployment in the Caribbean in decades and US strikes on at least two Venezuelan boats allegedly transporting drugs across the Caribbean have stoked fears that the United States is planning attacks on Venezuelan territory.
On Wednesday, Venezuela launched three days of military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila in response to the perceived threat.
La Orchila is close to the area where the United States intercepted and held a Venezuelan fishing vessel for eight hours over the weekend.US forces have also targeted suspected drug boats.
President Donald Trump says US forces have "knocked off" three boats in total but has only given details and video footage of two of the strikes, which left 14 dead.
Washington says its operations are part of its war on drug trafficking and dismisses questions over the legality of the strikes in international waters.
Venezuela Begins Large-Scale Military Drills in Response to US Deployment
Venezuela began large-scale military drills on the Caribbean island of La Orchila, mobilizing thousands of troops, warships, aircraft, and air-defense systems in a show of force it said was a response to United States naval deployment in the southern Caribbean.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino announced the start of the maneuvers, dubbed “Caribe Soberano 200,” on state television and said some 2,500 members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces would take part in the drills. He said the operation would include 12 navy ships, 22 aircraft, about 20 small militia boats, surveillance drones, submarines, and ZU anti-aircraft artillery systems.
“The operation responds to the threatening and vulgar deployment of U.S. ships in the Caribbean,” Padrino said, according to the state broadcast. “We will respond if we are the target of any aggression.”
<Venezuela starts military drills in the Caribbean
Images released by Venezuela’s military showed Su-30MK2 fighter jets on the tarmac and in flight, with missiles mounted under their wings. The aviation ministry said the aircraft were equipped with Kh-31 “Krypton” anti-ship and anti-radar missiles of Russian origin.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Russian analysis center CAST have reported that Venezuela acquired Kh-31 variants in 2007-08, though independent watchdogs have warned about equipment obsolescence and scant transparency in Venezuelan military reporting.
Admiral Ashraf Suleiman Gutierrez, speaking from one of the ships taking part in the exercise, said Venezuela did “not attack anyone” but was prepared to defend its territory. “We love peace. But we are prepared to defend that peace,” he said.
<Venezuela’s military exercises comes in response to US deployment
The maneuvers come as the United States says it has stepped up naval activity in the Caribbean to counter drug trafficking. Washington has deployed a task group of vessels to the region that U.S. officials say includes three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, the cruiser Lake Erie, the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, and a nuclear-powered submarine. Caracas has characterized the U.S. presence as an intimidation tactic and called it a “siege.”
President Nicolas Maduro’s government has denounced U.S. operations near its coasts as hostile, as Washington reportedly destroyed three Venezuelan boats, killing over a dozen people. According to Trump, the boats were smuggling drug to the U.S. The Venezuelan defense ministry said the drills would rehearse air, sea, and land operations, including amphibious tank landings and long-range surveillance.
The state release said the exercises would draw on specialized militia units, including coastal fishermen organized into militia boat flotillas, and elite military units. The government also said it had deployed ships fitted with anti-air defenses for the operation. The build-up has drawn international attention amid high regional tensions. Richard Grenell, a U.S. special envoy, told a conference in Paraguay this week that diplomatic avenues remained available to avoid escalation. “It is still possible to reach a diplomatic agreement with Caracas and avoid war,” Grenell said.
<Venezuela’s military exercises will focus on amassing support for the regime
Venezuelan critics, and some independent observers, have warned that the government’s military displays can be aimed at shoring up domestic support amid economic and political strain. Non-government watchdog Control Ciudadano has said Venezuela’s official military inventories are unclear and questioned the readiness of some systems, including combat aircraft.
The Venezuelan announcement did not specify the duration of the exercises or details about areas to be used beyond La Orchila, a government-held island roughly 160 kilometers (about 100 miles) off the Venezuelan coast. State media said the drills would include coordination among naval, amphibious, air, special, and aerospace forces.
U.S. and Venezuelan officials did not immediately comment beyond the statements already issued by both capitals. The U.S. Southern Command has said its deployments are focused on counter-narcotics operations and regional security cooperation. The La Orchila maneuvers are the latest episode in a widening standoff between Caracas and Washington in recent months, raising concerns among neighbors and international mediators about a potential miscalculation at sea.
China backs Venezuela, warns US against ‘bullying’ after second deadly sea raid
Venezuela’s foreign minister said Wednesday that China pledged support for Caracas’ efforts to preserve peace in the Caribbean, quoting Ambassador Lan Hu as saying Beijing stood “in solidarity” as Washington pressed ahead with military strikes on boats it claimed were carrying drugs.
Foreign Minister Yvan Gil met with Lan in Caracas and described the message from Beijing as a significant gesture at a time when the United States had deployed warships and launched two deadly operations in less than a month.
Gil stressed that President Nicolas Maduro was committed to regional unity and to what he called an “authentic battle” against narcotics trafficking, but accused Washington of using military power for political ends.
The Chinese pledge came as Washington carried out a second strike near the Venezuelan coast, announced on Monday by US President Donald Trump. He stated that US forces had targeted a vessel in international waters carrying cocaine and fentanyl bound for the United States.
Three people on board were killed – and video footage, according to Trump, showed “big bags of cocaine and fentanyl” floating in the sea.
That strike followed an operation earlier this month that killed 11 people on a speedboat the US linked to Venezuelan cartels. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed the US would “track them, kill them, and dismantle their networks throughout our hemisphere”, adding that he did not rule out extending operations to land.
The administration argued the strikes were necessary to defend US security, pointing to gangs such as Tren de Aragua, which it has designated a terrorist organisation. Trump noted that fewer boats had been spotted since the first strike but warned that cartels continued to smuggle drugs by land.
“We’re telling the cartels right now we’re going to be stopping them, too,” he declared.
The operations quickly attracted criticism in Washington, where some lawmakers and rights advocates questioned their legality.
Democratic Senator Adam Schiff announced he was drafting a war powers resolution to block further military action without congressional approval, calling the strikes “lawless killings” that risked entangling the US in conflict with Venezuela.
Amnesty International warned that the attacks might amount to extrajudicial executions, while other rights groups faulted the administration for providing scant information about the legal grounds for the operations.
Maduro, for his part, accused Washington of deliberately seeking a military clash as a pretext for regime change. Earlier this week, he denounced what he called a US raid on a Venezuelan fishing vessel and suggested it was designed to spark confrontation.
“They were looking for a military incident that the warmongers who want a war in the Caribbean are seeking,” he alleged.
Beijing had become increasingly outspoken in its defence of Caracas. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian argued Thursday that “coercion and bullying only serve to push countries away and will increasingly not work”, adding that Latin America is “no one’s backyard” and has the right to choose its partners independently.
The remarks echoed other recent condemnations from Beijing, which has accused Washington of adopting an aggressive posture in Latin America and of pushing countries in the region into confrontation with China.
Commenting on threats from Washington against Venezuela, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning condemned in August the build-up and stressed that China opposed “any move that violates the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and a country’s sovereignty and security.”
She also urged the United States to “do more things conducive to peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
The alignment reflected years of steadily closer ties between the two governments. In May, Gil, the Venezuelan foreign minister, met in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, who praised “Venezuela’s resilience in the face of sanctions” and promised deeper cooperation in agriculture, energy, trade and infrastructure.
Wang argued that both countries, as part of the Global South, should work together to oppose “hegemonic and bullying practices” and safeguard the interests of developing nations.
For Maduro, Beijing had become an indispensable partner to weather sanctions and counter Washington’s growing military pressure. At Wednesday’s meeting, Gil reiterated Caracas’ call for cooperation with Beijing and other nations in the Global South to tackle narcotics and external threats.
“Venezuela will continue its authentic battle against drug trafficking and calls for cooperation to face external threats,” he said.
>>2489113 (me)
Oh, forgot to mention the Yemeni approach as well. We're still waiting for them to deliver on their retaliatory decap strike of Bibi.
>>2489117They're not going to invade. They'll just pick off his government one by one, and he won't disturb a single hair on the head of a single American leader.
Only America and Israel are allowed to decap apparently. Everyone else engages in kabuki.
Venezuela launches 'Barracks to the People' plan, offers military training to public amid Trump threats
Nearly a month ago, Washington deployed warships to international waters off Venezuela's coast, backed by F-35 fighters sent to Puerto Rico in what it calls an anti-drug and anti-terrorism operation.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez has accused Washington of waging "undeclared war" in the Caribbean, after US strikes killed over a dozen alleged drug traffickers off his country's coast.
Caracas also accused the United States of seeking regime change and stealing its oil and other resources.
In the crammed Petare neighborhood of Caracas, the main avenue was shut down for a day of mini-courses about weapons handling and other "revolutionary resistance" tactics.
"I'm here to learn what I need to learn to defend what is really important to me: my country, my homeland, my nation, Venezuela," said Luzbi Monterola, a 38-year-old office worker.
"I am afraid of nothing and no one."
<'Oil, gold, diamonds'
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – who stands accused by Washington of running a drug cartel – has long sought to mobilize civilians in the escalating standoff.
The Petare neighborhood was once the launching point for protests against Maduro's reelection in July 2024, deemed fraudulent by the opposition and much of the international community.
After thousands of volunteers were summoned to military barracks last week for training, Maduro ordered the armed forces to go into the neighborhoods themselves.
But the show of force was subdued, with about 25 armored vehicles parading in the capital city and fewer trainees.
Maduro met with rural workers in the Aragua region on Saturday, calling on "millions" to "be prepared to take up arms and defend the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela if it were attacked by the American empire."
In Petare, soldiers taught volunteers in groups of 30 how to handle weapons. Other topics included how to wear masks, basic first aid, and "ideological thought."
Outside Caracas, training sessions took place in San Cristobal and Barinas, where turnout was also low, according to AFP correspondents.
"All of this is about oil, gold, diamonds – our resources," said 16-year-old John Noriega, who came to the Petare event with his parents. "We will fight for what belongs to us."
On the coasts, fishing boats cruised alongside naval vessels, state television footage showed.
"Today is a milestone we are marking in the military revolution that we are all writing, the people and the Armed Forces together. It is a true military revolution!" said Lopez.
Venezuela launched three days of military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila in response to the perceived threat from a US flotilla of seven ships and a nuclear-powered submarine.
<'Incalculable'
Trump warned Venezuela that it would face "incalculable" consequences if it refused to take back migrants he said it had "forced into the United States."
Repatriation of undocumented Venezuelans living in the United States has until now been one of the rare areas on which talks are ongoing, a diplomatic source told AFP.
On Friday, a US plane brought 185 Venezuelans back to Caracas, bringing to more than 13,000 the total number of repatriations since Trump returned to office in January.
Maduro's YouTube channel – which carries most of his speeches – vanished from the platform on Saturday. Officials in Caracas did not immediately comment.
Venezuela’s Maduro wrote to Trump after US strike on alleged drug boat
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro wrote to US President Donald Trump days after a US strike on an alleged drug boat and offered to engage in direct talks with special envoy Richard Grenell.
In his letter, shared on Telegram by Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and confirmed to CNN by a US source with knowledge of the matter, Maduro denies being involved in narco-trafficking – referring to the allegations as “fake news, propagated through various media channels” – and offers to engage in “a direct and frank conversation with your special envoy.”
The letter, signed by Maduro, is dated September 6, four days after a US strike killed 11 Venezuelans on a boat the US claims was being used to transport drugs.
The US conducted more strikes against speedboats last week, raising the total death toll to more than a dozen alleged drug traffickers, though the White House has not provided conclusive proof or intelligence data confirming the people killed were criminals.
Trump on Sunday declined to confirm he had received Maduro’s letter, telling reporters, “We’ll see what happens with Venezuela.”
A representative for Grenell and a spokesperson for the Venezuelan government both declined to comment on the letter.
The Trump administration has accused Maduro of being one of the world’s largest narco-traffickers and of working with cartels to flood the US with fentanyl-laced cocaine. In August, it doubled its reward for his arrest to $50 million.
Increasing tensions between the two countries have seen the US deploy warships to the region on what it says is a mission to combat drug trafficking, but Maduro has claimed it is an effort at regime change.
Venezuela has responded by launching military exercises and putting on display its Russian-built fighter jets in a show of force. It also claims to have mobilized millions of militiamen.
In his letter, Maduro says he is sending the US what he refers to as “compelling data on drug production and drug trafficking … that demonstrates that Venezuela is a territory free of drug production.”
“I respectfully invite you, President, to promote peace through constructive dialogue and mutual understanding throughout the hemisphere,” Maduro says in the letter.
Grenell, a former US ambassador to Germany, has met with Maduro several times this year to secure the release of US citizens wrongfully detained in Venezuela in exchange for hundreds of Venezuelan migrants the White House had previously sent to El Salvador.
On Tuesday, Grenell openly called for a de-escalation in the confrontation saying he believed the US and Venezuela “can still have a deal” to avoid war.
>>2489151>not have the same military capability than theIt's "not have the same … as," you illiterate retard.
Aggro posters – every single time.
>>2491755You were warned
https://web.archive.org/web/20250611002945/https://leftypol.org/leftypol/res/2144941.htmlhttps://archive.ph/Gnil7https://leftypol.org/meta/res/41898.htmlkeep cheering for the WOD though, we gotta get those degenerate addict Venezuelan dealers for AES and ML social conservative christo-islamic purity. Less than a year ago you cheered Duterte, where did your spirit go?
>>2492729Interesting stuff, i potentially believe it.
There are too many ships there and not enough obvious pantomime is being made of it by the Hwite House for any of this to be just for show, IMHO.
>>2492878 (me)
Also, they keep saying things like this, knowing that they will not remove Maduro 'Diplomatically'.
>Special envoy Richard Grenell said Tuesday the US still believes a diplomatic resolution remains possible to avoid military conflict >>2491799>>2491793>>2491791>>2491788>>2491780>>2491774>>2491766Reminder that this is what your jannies think is good posting, worth enough to stay up. If you report it they will only dismiss as this is their buddy.
joke website.
https://larrycjohnson.substack.com/p/ignore-ukraine-trump-is-pay-attention
>What we ought to be paying attention to is the dramatic buildup of US military assets off the coast of Venezuela. This mirrors the kind of activity we saw after the 13 June attack on Iran by Israel, as the United States deployed naval and air assets to the region in preparation for the US attack on 24 June. As of September 2025, the United States has deployed a substantial naval and military force off the coast of Venezuela in the southern Caribbean. >The deployment includes:
>Navy Ships:• Guided-missile destroyers: USS Jason Dunham, USS Gravely, USS Sampson, USS Stockdale
• Missile cruiser: USS Lake Erie
• Littoral combat ship: USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul
• Amphibious ships: USS Iwo Jima, USS Fort Lauderdale, USS San Antonio (comprising the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group)
• Fast-attack submarine: USS Newport News
>Military Units:• Marine Expeditionary Unit: 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, with approximately 4,500 personnel, including 2,200 Marines and sailors, deployed aboard the amphibious ships
• Air assets: F-35B fighter jets, MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, MQ-9 Reaper drones, and P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft
• Special Operations Forces: Reported secret deployments for targeted strikes and commando operations in support of anti-cartel missions
>I cannot rule out that this show of military force is part of an intelligence operation — i.e., use the saber rattling as leverage over key members of the Venezuelan military to persuade them to launch a US-backed coup and eliminate President Maduro. But Maduro is not alone… He has the backing of Russia, China and Iran by virtue of his membership in BRICS.
>Maduro and Venezuela have more than verbal assurances from Russia. Venezuela concluded a significant defense and strategic cooperation agreement with Russia in mid-September 2025, when the Venezuelan National Assembly preliminarily approved a “Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Treaty” with Russia. This agreement is designed to deepen existing bilateral ties in defense, energy, technology, and includes provisions for regular high-level political dialogue and oversight commissions for implementation.
>Key features of the agreement:• The treaty expands Venezuela’s military cooperation with Russia, building on the already substantial relationship, such as domestic manufacturing of AK-103 rifles and joint defense technology initiatives.
• Venezuelan cadets are training in Russia in advanced military specialties, including drone technology and electronic warfare.
• The agreement was advanced in direct response to the recent deployment of US warships, submarines, and fighter jets in the Caribbean, which Venezuela views as a threat to its sovereignty.
• The pact, which still requires a final parliamentary vote for formal ratification, is explicitly framed by Venezuelan officials as part of their rejection of “hegemonic” US influence and an effort to build a multipolar world order in partnership with Russia.
• Earlier this year, Presidents Maduro and Putin signed a 10-year strategic alliance, which lays the foundation for this further deepened cooperation and also encompasses arms control, energy sector collaboration, and joint efforts to bypass sanctions.
>Putin is sending Trump a not-so-subtle reminder that Russia still has some global reach. >>2496206>I'd rather burn than be passive in the face of such evil and butchery.You’re still being passive in the face of such evil and butchery. Indulging in a toxic and fatal form of passivity will only give the imperialists another point on their board. You have allowed them your death, and they will forever be grateful for that.
>>2496211>I'm not convinced I could successfully pull something like that offYou’re already planning to burn yourself. What does that matter for at this point?
>crack down on domestic leftists while escalating the invasionAlready happening
>And the American public would eat it up because they are highly susceptible to jingoist propaganda.Disapproval is at an all time high
>>2496214Excellent points
>>2496194Russia won't be able to do anything, they spent much more efforts on Syria and it still fell to US proxies, and they have enough on their hands in Ukraine right now, if the burgers themselves want to topple Venezuela there will be nothing to stop them.
The only good thing if they decide to proceed is that it will bolster anti US sentiment in South America and anti war movement at home which can be capitalized on, Russia will be irrelevant to this and I expect China to be flaccid as usual, selling labubus to everyone involved and keeping making money.
F-35s and Reaper drones join huge US Naval fleet patrolling the Caribbean
An eighth US Navy warship has arrived in the Caribbean to intensify counter-cartel operations despite legal experts raising questions about the scope of military authority and the risk of mission creep.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Stockdale, has joined a growing US naval presence in waters overseen by US Southern Command.
Business Insider reports that Stockdale’s arrival brings the total number of US vessels in theatre to eight, part of an assertive attempt to disrupt maritime drug trafficking routes near Venezuela. It comes as Russia declares NATO and the EU are now 'at war' with Moscow in a chilling escalation.
Officials frame the mission as a whole-of-government push to detect, monitor and interdict illicit flows - an effort now backed by high-end air power and a Marine crisis-response force.
US defence officials say Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachments are embarked to conduct boardings and seizures where permissible.
The emphasis, they add, is on deterring cartels, protecting the US homeland and sustaining pressure on transnational criminal organisations.
US Navy vessels in the Caribbean
• USS Stockdale, guided-missile destroyer
• USS Jason Dunham, guided-missile destroyer
• USS Gravely, guided-missile destroyer
• USS Lake Erie, guided-missile cruiser
• USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, littoral combat ship
• USS Iwo Jima, amphibious assault ship (flagship of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group)
• USS Fort Lauderdale, amphibious transport dock
• USS San Antonio, amphibious transport dock
•The Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group is embarked with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, a roughly brigade-sized crisis-response formation trained for evacuations, disaster relief and amphibious assaults.
Air power and surveillance
Alongside the ships, the Department of Defense has indicated F-35 Lightning II jets are supporting the mission, enhancing the networked intelligence picture and long-range targeting options in complex maritime environments.
US officials also acknowledge the presence of MQ-9 Reaper drones, a proven platform for persistent surveillance and cueing. Specific operating areas and tactics are being withheld for operational security.
The political and legal backdrop
The deployment decisions were taken by the US Secretary of Defense in support of the president’s directive to dismantle transnational criminal organisations and counter narco-terrorism.
The administration has designated several cartels as foreign terrorist organisations. Supporters argue the approach unlocks additional law-enforcement tools and international coordination.
>>2496311This is just a political show.
Nothing Ever Happens.
Trump administration weighs military strikes inside Venezuela within 'weeks', NBC News reports
U.S. military officials are reportedly developing plans for potential strikes against drug traffickers within Venezuela's borders, a move that could begin "in a matter of weeks," NBC News reported late Friday.
Four sources — two U.S. officials familiar with the planning and two others familiar with the discussions — told NBC News that the Trump administration is considering options that primarily focus on drone strikes targeting the members and leadership of drug trafficking groups, as well as drug labs.
Striking inside Venezuela would mark a significant escalation in the administration’s military campaign against alleged drug targets and its stance toward Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
The sources confirmed that President Trump has not yet approved the potential strikes. Two of them, along with an additional official familiar with the discussions, indicated that the recent U.S. military escalation is partly a reaction to the administration's view that Maduro is not doing enough to stop the flow of illegal drugs out of his country.
The administration has already taken recent military action.
Posting on Truth Social, Trump said that the U.S. military had struck at least three boats allegedly carrying narco-traffickers and drugs that could threaten Americans. While the administration has not provided evidence of drugs on all vessels, a U.S. Embassy official and an official in the Dominican Republic confirmed that drugs were found in the water after one of the strikes.
<Weakening Maduro's grip on power?
Some officials within the Trump administration are reportedly disappointed that the recent military actions have not weakened Maduro's grip on power or prompted any significant response, according to an official familiar with the discussions. The White House is also facing more pushback on the drug boat strikes than anticipated, prompting careful consideration of next steps.
The potential for U.S. strikes is not a surprise to those familiar with the administration's thinking, especially given the recent large-scale military deployment to the region, reports NBC News. The U.S. recently deployed at least eight ships with more than 4,000 personnel and F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico.
One source familiar with the administration’s thinking noted, “You don’t move that many resources down there without looking at all options.” Another source familiar with the discussions pointed out the practical limits of the deployment, saying, “You can’t keep that kind of firepower in the Caribbean forever.”
Asked for comment on the story, the White House referred NBC News to an earlier statement from the president: “We’ll see what happens. Venezuela is sending us their gang members, their drug dealers and drugs. It’s not acceptable.” The Pentagon declined to comment.
A senior administration official told NBC News that the president is “prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.”
Meanwhile, Venezuelan political analyst Anibal Sanchez Ismayel told NBC News that “an attack on Venezuelan soil would have consequences from diplomatic protests to an increase in political persecutions of those they classify as collaborators, to further uniting the population with the need to defend sovereignty reaffirmed.”
NBC News reported that Maduro's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Maduro has previously denied any role in drug trafficking and repeatedly alleged that the U.S. is trying to force him from power.
<Trump administration goals
NBC News previously reported that the goal, according to a source familiar with the administration’s thinking, is to pressure Maduro into making hasty decisions that could ultimately lead to his ousting without American boots on the ground.
The administration has been using Middle Eastern leaders as intermediaries for discussions with Venezuela, with Maduro speaking to them about concessions he would be willing to make to remain in power, a senior administration official told NBC News.
>>2496399Yeah, I don't know if it can really scale that way. From what I've read, Hezbollah was taken out of the game because of obligations to the Lebanese government and public opinion. Them not being their own independent government complicates things somewhat. Even with all the strikes against its leadership that Hamas has suffered, it's still going, so it's questionable that this tactic is really efficacious on its own.
Like we saw with Iran, there might be a lot of internal unrest inside Venezuela, but an overt attack from the US might temporarily relieve that pressure. Killing Maduro could cause a lot of chaos and confusion, but if the rest of Venezuelan society is united against the yankee then you're sparking on damp tinder. I think they'd have to just keep wacking government officials until the state collapsed in that case, but that would end up creating circumstances like in Iraq, but no coalition forces to keep resource extraction functional.
Fear and Hope in Venezuela as U.S. Warships Lurk
In one corner of Venezuela’s capital, hundreds of government supporters held guns to their chests, as one speaker after another, microphone in hand, urged them to defend the nation with their lives.
In another corner, businessmen and diplomats worried about the escalating tensions between Venezuela and the United States, about what they see as a lost opportunity for dialogue between the two countries and about the possibility of a U.S. strike that could unleash bloodshed and chaos.
Still, in other parts of the capital, Caracas, there was a battle-weary calm and skepticism that there will ever be political change in Venezuela.
Granted a rare visa for foreign journalists, I spent a week in Venezuela at a particularly tense time. Relations with the United States are at a crossroads, with the Trump administration sending warships into the Caribbean. The buildup’s size and President Trump’s public threats against President Nicolás Maduro have raised the specter of strikes, of commando raids in the South American nation, or of some broader conflict.
President Trump has said he wants to unleash the military on cartels and stop trafficking to the United States, and his administration has called Mr. Maduro the head of a terrorist organization threatening the United States and flooding it with drugs.
The United States says it has blown up at least three drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, including at least two from Venezuela, in a significant escalation of the kind of pressure that Mr. Trump has put on Mexico to crack down on fentanyl.
But while some drugs do come from Venezuela, fentanyl does not, and the cocaine that does is a very small percentage of the trade, far less than what comes from Colombia and exits from Colombia and Ecuador, according to the U.S. government’s accounting.
That has led many observers to say that the Trump administration’s real goal is to go after Mr. Maduro.
In interviews, some Venezuelans said they supported any action that would lead to the ouster of Mr. Maduro, who is accused of major human rights violations and whose movement has led the country for a generation.
Members of the Bolivarian militia during a rally this month.CreditCredit…
The group supporting the use of force is led by Maria Corina Machado, an opposition leader. Her base says that by removing Mr. Maduro, the United States could defend the result of last year’s presidential vote, which Mr. Maduro is widely believed to have lost. Independent vote monitors and many countries, including the United States, recognized Mr. Maduro’s opponent, Edmundo González, a surrogate for Ms. Machado, as the legitimate victor.
One of Ms. Machado’s advisers, Pedro Urruchurtu, said she was coordinating with the Trump administration and had a plan for the first 100 hours after Mr. Maduro’s fall. That plan involves the participation of international allies, he said, “especially the United States,” and would “guarantee a stable transition” to Mr. González.
But in interviews, other Venezuelans were far less eager to see the United States get involved. Many, even those who said they wanted to see Mr. Maduro gone, arguing that he has held on only through repression, said that a violent U.S. move was not the solution. Many people spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation.
Some said they doubted the willingness of the United States to keep a large contingent of troops on the ground to ensure the stability of a U.S.-backed government.
Three diplomats said they saw few signs that anyone in Mr. Maduro’s inner circle would split to support an opposition leader, or that the military would turn on him.
Other Venezuelans warned that ousting Mr. Maduro would only invite the armed actors left behind — the military, Colombian guerrilla groups, paramilitary gangs — into a battle for the spoils.
And in Venezuela, with its oil, gold and other minerals, there are many spoils.
“You kill Maduro,” said one prominent businessman, “you turn Venezuela into Haiti,” which descended into chaos after its last president was assassinated.
Still others were skeptical that Mr. Trump was willing to get involved militarily and said that the president’s gunboat strategy, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would only push Venezuela further from the United States and toward China, Russia and Iran.
Mr. Maduro has responded to Washington’s mobilization by arming civilians, sending tanks into the streets and announcing military exercises throughout the country, which have been publicized on state television and social media. But his advisers say the central message to Washington is that their government does not want war.
The Venezuelan president sent a letter to Mr. Trump this month praising his efforts to halt other conflicts and said he was open to a “direct and frank conversation” with Mr. Trump’s special envoy to Venezuela, Richard Grenell.
Early this year, Mr. Grenell seemed to be trying to improve relations, traveling to Venezuela to meet with Mr. Maduro just after Mr. Trump took office. But more recently, Mr. Trump appears to favor Mr. Rubio’s hard-line approach.
In an interview at her office inside the country’s oil ministry building, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said that she believed Mr. Trump was leading the world into “a stage where the United States has openly declared war on the world.”
She called the boat attacks “absolutely illegal” and called for a normalization of economic relations with the United States, which has imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s vital oil industry.
“The people of the United States do not want war in the Caribbean,” she said.
Image
A woman with glasses and a mustard-colored jacket sits in a blue chair.
Delcy Rodríguez after an interview on Friday.
Even amid escalating tensions, Venezuela has continued to accept twice-weekly flights of deportees from the United States, said the country’s foreign minister, Yván Gil.
Several diplomats and business leaders in Caracas said that they hoped the United States would shift back to a policy of diplomacy, believing that persistent negotiations could eventually persuade Mr. Maduro to hand power to a reformist successor or moderate opposition leader in exchange for sanctions relief and other conditions.
They also said that he is tired but cannot leave office if he thinks he will be arrested. Mr. Maduro, who is 62 and has led the country since 2013, is under indictment in the United States on drug conspiracy charges.
On the streets of Caracas, the strain between the two nations has produced contrasting images of war and peace.
Several people said that they worked for the government, that their superiors had required attendance and that they had been given unloaded guns to hold during the event. Many hurried to leave as soon as it ended.
Others said that patriotism had brought them out and vowed to defend Mr. Maduro and his movement.
“If there is an invasion,” said Marisol Amundaray, 50, “I will safeguard my children and head to the street with my rifle.”
In other parts of the city, though, normal life continued. Not far from the presidential palace one morning, Constanza Sofía Arangeren twirled on a cobblestone street in a gold ball gown as a photographer snapped away.
Image
A young woman in a gold ball gown stands in front of a large wooden door. One person holds a light and two others look on.
Constanza Sofía Arangeren during a photo shoot for her 15th birthday, outside the home where Simón Bolivar, an independence hero, was born.
She was preparing her 15th birthday celebration, and her mother was more anxious about the coming party than a possible invasion.
No one interviewed said they were hoarding supplies. Some said they were not worried about an attack; others said they couldn’t afford to.
“In a normal country where there is a threat like this, the first thing people do is stock up on food,” said Estefanie Mendoza, 42, a social worker with two children, “but we can’t do that.”
While the country’s economy has recovered somewhat since a protracted crisis helped fuel a migrant exodus, the rebound has been uneven.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio have argued that significant amounts of cocaine are trafficked through Venezuela and that they are seeking to stop U.S. overdoses. A 2020 report from the U.S. State Department said just 10 percent to 13 percent of the global cocaine supply goes through Venezuela.
Fentanyl, which causes far more overdoses than cocaine, is almost entirely produced in Mexico with chemicals imported from China, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The boats that U.S. forces have bombed in the Caribbean have killed at least 17 people, according to the Trump administration.
Some legal experts have called it a crime to summarily kill civilians not directly taking part in hostilities, even if they are believed to be smuggling drugs.
In the state of Sucre, on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, the first boat to have been destroyed, on Sept. 2, is widely believed to have been carrying people from the towns of San Juan de Unare and Güiria, on a spit of land known as the Paria Peninsula.
For years the region has been dominated by cocaine trafficking, according to Ronna Rísquez, a Venezuelan journalist who has conducted field work in the area.
Güiria, Venezuela, in 2020. While the country’s economy has recovered somewhat since a protracted crisis that started in 2015, the rebound has been uneven.
But migrants, trafficking victims and government-subsidized Venezuelan gasoline — which can be sold at a higher price in Trinidad and Tobago, just six miles away — also leave from this area, she said.
In an interview, one woman who identified herself as the wife of one of the dead men said that her husband was a fisherman with four children who left one day for work and never came back.
Some in Venezuela said they feared U.S. military action would mean more loss. And they said they didn’t believe that Ms. Machado, who says she is in hiding in Venezuela, and Mr. González, in exile in Spain, could guarantee their security.
“Name one successful case in the last few years of a successful U.S. military intervention,” said Henrique Capriles, an opposition politician who has clashed with Ms. Machado.
A bloodless U.S. “extraction” of Mr. Maduro was the stuff of Netflix, he said, not reality.
“And the cost for us Venezuelans, what will it be? What guarantee do we have that this will translate into a recovery of our democracy?”
Another article from the NYT confirming what escalation predictors have been saying. Rubio is driving it and the CIA is behind him. Also some Venezuelan opposition figures flew to the U.S. in May to meet with them.
>The push by top aides to President Trump to remove Nicolás Maduro as the leader of Venezuela has intensified in recent days, with administration officials discussing a broad campaign that would escalate military pressure to try to force him out, U.S. officials say.
>It is being led by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser. Mr. Rubio argues that Mr. Maduro is an illegitimate leader who oversees the export of drugs to the United States, which he says poses an “imminent threat.”
>In recent weeks, the U.S. military has launched lethal attacks on civilian boats that the administration said were smuggling drugs for Venezuelan gangs. But Mr. Rubio is shaping a more aggressive strategy, using intelligence provided by the C.I.A., the officials said. The Pentagon has built up a force of more than 6,500 troops in the region.
>The agency’s director, John Ratcliffe, and Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s chief domestic policy adviser, both support Mr. Rubio’s approach, the officials added.
>The U.S. military has been planning potential military operations targeting drug trafficking suspects in Venezuela itself as a next phase, although the White House has not yet approved such a step, current and former officials say.
>Those operations would be aimed at interfering with drug production and trafficking in Venezuela as well as tightening a vise around Mr. Maduro.
>Because administration officials assert Mr. Maduro sits atop Venezuela’s cartel network, they can argue that removing him from power is ultimately a counternarcotics operation.
>Mr. Rubio repeatedly cites the Justice Department’s 2020 indictment of him and other Venezuelan officials on drug trafficking charges. He recently described Mr. Maduro as a “fugitive from American justice” and the head of “a terrorist organization and organized crime organization that have taken over a country.”
>At the same time, two senior figures in Venezuela’s opposition say their movement has been planning for what to do if Mr. Maduro falls and have been engaged with talks with the Trump administration about that possibility … Mr. Rubio met with five opposition figures in May who secretly fled to the United States in what he called a “precise operation.” He has praised the opposition leader, María Corina Machado, whom he called by her nickname, the “Venezuelan Iron Lady,” in a tribute this year … Pedro Urruchurtu, an adviser to Ms. Machado, said in an interview that the opposition had developed a plan for the first 100 hours after Mr. Maduro’s ouster that would involve a transfer of power to Edmundo González, who ran for president against Mr. Maduro last year.
<Venezuelan Foreign Minister Condemns ‘Immoral Threats,’ Reaffirms Commitment to Peace in UN Speech
>Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yván Gil condemned Friday Washington’s military threats and reasserted Caracas’ commitment to peace and multilateralism before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
>In his address, Gil recalled the “countless attacks” that the Caribbean nation has faced, including an assassination attempt against President Nicolás Maduro, a mercenary incursion and hundreds of unilateral coercive measures targeting the oil industry and other economic sectors.https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuelan-foreign-minister-condemns-immoral-threats-reaffirms-commitment-to-peace-in-un-speech/
<President Maduro Highlights Widespread Support for Venezuela at UN General Assembly
>Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro highlighted the support expressed by the majority of member countries and groups of the United Nations for the defense of Venezuela and the region of Latin America and the Caribbean. The outpouring of diplomatic support occurs amid the multifaceted aggression that the United States is carrying out against Venezuela, which includes a significant naval and military deployment near the Venezuelan coast.
>During a televised broadcast, the Venezuelan president noted that the delegation headed by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil attended the 80th United Nations General Assembly held from Sept. 23 to 29 in New York City.https://orinocotribune.com/president-maduro-highlights-widespread-support-for-venezuela-at-un-general-assembly/
<Venezuela denounces “unprecedented” media campaign and psychological warfare
>Delcy Rodríguez declared that Latin America is a zone of peace, as agreed since 2014 by the member countries of CELAC.
>Venezuela is experiencing an unprecedented media campaign and psychological warfare, the Executive Vice President of the Republic, Delcy Rodríguez, denounced on Monday.
>In a meeting with the secretariat of the National Council of Sovereignty and Peace, the vice president stressed that the international strategy seeks to ignore history as a free and sovereign nation and execute a psychological offensive against the people.https://www.telesurenglish.net/venezuela-denounces-unprecedented-media-campaign-and-psychological-warfare/ Top Trump Officials Intensify Push for Regime Change in Venezuela
US President Donald Trump announced on September 30 that his administration would expand surveillance of drug shipments entering the country by land, following recent military strikes on Venezuelan vessels in the Caribbean.
The measures come amid escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas, with Trump alleging that the Venezuelan government orchestrates an international trafficking network known as the Cartel of the Suns.
Speaking to reporters whilst travelling to a meeting with military leaders, Trump said operations against several boats had successfully halted maritime drug shipments. "All you have to do is look at the cargo that was scattered across the ocean, large bags of cocaine everywhere," he said, adding that land routes were now the focus of US efforts.
At a separate event with senior armed forces officials, he stated that Washington was actively disrupting Venezuelan drug operations and warned of decisive retaliation against threats to US citizens.
Since early September, US forces have conducted at least two strikes on speedboats in international waters near Venezuela. The latest operation resulted in three fatalities and included footage released by Trump showing a vessel struck in the open sea. He characterised the casualties as suspected traffickers and acknowledged collateral effects on local fisheries, asserting the actions were necessary to prevent drugs from entering the US.
The first strike on September 2 reportedly killed 11 crew members of a vessel linked to the Tren de Aragua gang, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who argued that arrests alone were insufficient. The US maintains a presence of eight warships, including a nuclear submarine, and roughly 4,500 personnel in the southern Caribbean as part of its anti-trafficking strategy.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro condemned the operations as acts of military aggression, asserting that Caracas was exercising its right to self-defence under international law and denouncing what he called Washington's judicial, political, diplomatic and military pressures aimed at unseating him from power.
In response to the escalating crisis, Venezuela activated extraordinary constitutional measures on September 29, granting Maduro sweeping security powers under a "State of External Commotion" decree. The emergency provisions, valid for an initial 90 days, empower the president to mobilise armed forces nationwide and assert government control over critical infrastructure, including the oil industry and public services. Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez denounced the American naval presence as a violation of the UN Charter, whilst Venezuela's military has begun conducting training exercises with civilian militia members in preparation for what officials describe as a possible American invasion.
Underestimating Chavista strength is one of the recurring mistakes of American presidents.Donald Trump is wrong to laugh at Venezuelan women militia members for their height and weight. They were the same ones who, in 2020, along with fishermen from Chuao, recognized a small boat carrying several former Venezuelan soldiers and two former Green Berets from the US Army Special Forces. The group planned to enter Venezuela by sea, seize a nearby airport, and fly Nicolás Maduro out of the country after a “fantastic” capture, the kind seen in Mission: Impossible, that could only succeed in their imaginations.
Aaron Barry and Luke Denman, the mercenaries in question, were two American operatives who had fought in Libya and Iraq and were recruited for the mission. They held Bronze Star Medals and other insignia awarded by the US Army when they were arrested, thanks to the very militia members Trump now mocks on social media. These are the same women the US president ridicules for their appearance and phenotype, yet he does not hesitate to accuse them of belonging to the mythical “Cartel of the Suns.”
Recent Venezuelan history shows a long line of underestimations and miscalculations by opponents, senior foreign officials, and US presidents. Pedro Carmona Estanga, then-president of the business group Fedecámaras, believed that in April 2002 it would be enough to arrest Hugo Chávez to force his resignation, and that Chavista military forces would not counterattack to retake Miraflores Palace, backed by massive mobilizations in Caracas neighborhoods.
Donald Trump believed his national security adviser, John Bolton, in January 2019, when Bolton claimed that if the US recognized Juan Guaidó’s self-proclamation as president, thousands of military personnel would defect and stage a coup against Maduro.
Later, in one of the most ironic episodes in Venezuelan history, Trump again relied on assurances from Leopoldo López and Juan Guaidó, relayed through Bolton, that Maikel Moreno, then-head of the Supreme Court, would issue a ruling recognizing Guaidó as president, with the backing of Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López and SEBIN chief Christopher Figuera. The saga ended with Guaidó and López recording a video on a dark highway, calling on the military to rise up, while Moreno and Padrino López ignored their calls. For the immortality of Venezuelan memes, rebel troops fired ammunition stored in banana crates from the Francisco Fajardo Highway. The image of that fiasco, which sparked global mockery of US power, contributed to Bolton’s ouster from the Trump administration.
A few years later, the same fanciful, outdated thinking appears to have returned with the White House comeback of the orange-haired creator of The Apprentice. It’s no longer Bolton filling Trump’s ears with empty promises, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser, envisioning a revival of gunboat diplomacy, when the United States militarily occupied Latin American nations and orchestrated coups. In Rubio’s “domino” logic, Venezuela’s fall would end Cuba’s revolution and oust Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega. It would also send a warning to any country that defies Washington or draws close to China or Russia, Monroeism on steroids.
As in past cases, this calculation, made by Cuban American officials who have never lived in Latin America, assumes the “Chávez regime” would collapse overnight and that María Corina Machado would emerge as the undisputed leader of all Venezuelans, leaving everyone else to fend for themselves. But many things could go wrong. If US military pressure, “surgical strikes,” or “targeted assassinations” succeeded, Venezuela could descend into a power vacuum, potentially seized by military factions more radical than Maduro, or fragment into warlord-controlled zones, as in Libya or Syria, with a US-backed rump state in the center. Venezuela has a long history of regional caudillos that could resurface.
Alternatively, as in previous episodes, nothing might happen: military pressure could fail, Trump could lose interest, and he might strike a deal with Venezuela, exchanging Venezuelan migrants for oil, as proposed by MAGA-aligned members of his cabinet. Yet one of the worst outcomes for Trumpism would be a military intervention in Venezuela that achieves nothing. Such a failure would shatter the myth that gunboat diplomacy can be revived in Latin America. It could happen, for instance, that Trump deploys heavily decorated US soldiers, only for them to be detained by the very militia members he mocks online.
That is why Trump is wrong to laugh at Venezuelan militia members.
https://orinocotribune.com/trump-was-wrong-to-laugh-at-venezuelan-militia-members/ >>2491766>>2491799>>2496119>>2496157The Empire vs. Venezuela: “War on Drugs” Chapter
<Please join us online for a presentation by, and discussion with, Orinoco Tribune editors Saheli Chowdhury, Steve Lalla, and Jesús Rodríguez Espinoza (abstract below).
>Venezuela is back in the headlines of mainstream, as well as alternative media, around the world due to a series of threats of invasion coming from various level of the US government—supported by its vassal states and due to the deployment of multiple US warships in the Caribbean waters, unseen in recent years. As the empire’s threats and war preparation ramp up and the world watches with apprehension in anticipation of a war in the Zone of Peace, it should be remembered that the situation is nothing new, although the intensity and the means may be. The Bolivarian Revolution has been the target of the US empire since its foundation, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has experienced dozens of coup attempts over the past quarter century. The current escalation was preceded by a widespread crackdown on Venezuelan migrants in the US—migrants of the US-imposed economic-financial-trade blockade—with the excuse of combating “Venezuelan gang violence” in the United States, using the name of a gang (Tren de Aragua) that has been almost liquidated in Venezuela by the Venezuelan authorities and connecting it, contrary to all evidence, precisely with the Venezuelan government.
>Similarly, the current war environment has been created under the guise of combating narco-trafficking to the US through Venezuela, again contrary to all evidence presented by organizations as diverse as the United Nations and the European Union. In this case also, Venezuela is being branded as a“narco-state” ruled by the leader of the non-existent Cartel de los Soles, a figment of imagination of the US president. Weaponising the very real issues of gang violence and drug trafficking that plague many countries in the American continent, including the US, consent is being manufactured to invade a nation that refuses to submit to the dictates of the empire of the day. In response to imperialist interventionism, Venezuela has declared a nationwide mobilisation, calling upon the people to join the Bolivarian National Militia. Venezuela is turning out to be a key battleground between an empire’s ambitions and those of a people committed to sovereignty and self-determination.
>Topics that may be discussed:>1- Brief history of US aggression against the Bolivarian Revolution>2- Facts about US military deployment in the South Caribbean>3- Facts about Venezuela’s response>4- Far-right opposition influence over current events>5- Expected vs real effects on Venezuela>6- Fake US War on Drugs vs Real Venezuelan Fight Against Drugs Deepening tensions with Venezuela, the U.S. Marine Corps continues to demonstrate its amphibious and expeditionary capabilities in Puerto Rico
In recent weeks, tensions in the Caribbean, centered on the United States and Venezuela, show no signs of easing. Alongside the significant military presence that the Republican administration has deployed to the region, there have been growing demonstrations of the expeditionary and amphibious capabilities of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel and assets.
Throughout September, Puerto Rico has been the focus of these demonstrations, which, while intended to raise readiness and preparedness levels for operations in support of U.S. foreign policy, also send a clear deterrent message.
In recent days and weeks, amphibious exercises have been observed in Puerto Rico by Marine Corps units, concentrated at the Camp Santiago Training Area as well as other points across the island.
Images circulating online show the deployment of a wide range of amphibious, aerial, and naval capabilities aimed at projecting power from the sea to the shore for the establishment of beachheads.
As reported days ago by the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, its 8×8 LAV-25 armored combat vehicles were deployed on the shores of Arroyo, Puerto Rico, after being transported aboard hovercraft launched from amphibious assault ships stationed offshore, including the USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) and USS San Antonio (LPD 17).
However, the deployment of assets has not only included amphibious resources but also aerial ones, such as UH-1Y Venom tactical helicopters, AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters, and CH-53E Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters. The latter were tasked with transporting significant numbers of personnel and vehicles by sling load, while the former carried out tactical transport, attack, and close air support missions, including live-fire exercises with door-mounted machine guns, missiles, and rockets.
Also noteworthy in the air-naval operations was the presence of MV-22B Osprey aircraft belonging to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 263 (Reinforced), tasked with inserting forces into the Camp Santiago area of operations.
Finally, while these exercises and shows of force are aligned with directives from the White House and the Department of Defense, it should not go unnoticed that growing rumors are circulating regarding the possibility of moving forward with a military option to neutralize drug cartels designated as terrorist organizations, many of which have been linked to supporting the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro.
>>2504660>55:35 it's a big lie uh talking about uh the that the US is really trying to fight drugs. Uh and another important scene is that the US is a major consumer of of drugs in in the world and and no one does a real intensive important work in the US to combat that reality. Uh and actually also the US is the safe heaven for drugs lords. The drug lords do not live in Karakas or Boota. They live in Europe or the US most of them. And money laundering is another importance in the US is the is the biggest money laundering machine. The US banking system is the biggest money laundering machine in the world. And all international documents talk about that. So it's a a humongous hypocrisy to talk about uh the war on drugs and then use it against Venezuela.
> 1:02:14 What I'd like to do is maybe pick up on one of the uh important threads and then frame a question for you. The thread is the extent to which the war on drugs is one of the principal kind of ideological uh tools that is currently being used to wage the imperial war or intensified I should say against Venezuela. I really appreciated the ways in which you frame this in order to understand how the war on drugs actually operates or a war using drugs as a tool of counterinsurgency. I would add to many of the important comments that you had the excellent work of Alfred M. McCoy, the politics of heroin, CIA complicity in the global drug trade that goes into great detail about the involvement of the US in the global drug trade, not recently, but you know, for decades and decades. And of course, the great Gary Webb did the Dark Alliance series for San Jose Mercury News, which uh uncovered a lot of the Contra crack cocaine controversy or dealings that um were being referenced. I think it's also important to insist on the extent to which the drugs that are then brought into the United States with the oversight of the intelligence services are used very explicitly as a counterinsurgency tactic and in fact there are members of the US government that are on record stating as much.
>John Erlickman is perhaps the most famous. He was a Watergate co-conspirator and he mentioned regarding the Nixon White House that they had two principal enemies, the anti-war left and the black people. and he said, this is a quote, "We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did." End quote. Right? So you see here clearly a member of the US administration of course this is more dated but I think this continues unabated really taking the position that the use of drugs uh for counterinsurgency is really integral to fighting uh social movements and anti-imperialist struggle on the home front as well. So those were just some kind of general comments to insist on the importance of the framing that you're giving us in order to understand that the real war on drugs is a war being waged by the imperial powers in order to foster global drug production and use it for counterinsurgency and pro-imperialist agenda. It's not what's being done by those anti-imperialist states like Venezuela that are actually waging a successful war against this global campaign of using drugs to undermine people power.
>1:29:10 there are nine US military bases in Colombia area and uh everywhere where there are I mean the US military bases apart from keeping a country under submission also function as drug trafficking I mean transit points it has it is true in Peru it's true in Ecuador it's I mean currently does not have a military base but when it had it used to be those used to be the transit points of drugs and in Colombia also the it's not like the US military bases has been of any good to Colombia either in the measures of security or in terms of uh drug fight against drugs.
>It has actually been a fight against poor people which Petra has also highlighted. He said that the people who are killed in the war on drugs are the poor people who do not have any other way of earning a living. And I mean they they are the easiest victims of drug traffickers because they are just being used as the mules to traffic drugs from one place to another. And they are the ones who actually like who put the bodies. So they are the ones who are being killed. And he also in another interesting thing that he has but it is a liberal turn of him that he was for the legalization of drugs not all of them but some of them. So probably I think Marijuana would be one of them.
>He said something interesting in his UN speech also when he was talking about the you know the drugs and the US war on drugs. He said that wine and alcohol all alcoholic drinks they are not considered poisonous. Although they are for the body but they are not considered poisonous because they are produced in the north. They are produced in Europe. They're produced in the US. On the other hand the the drugs like cocaine etc. they are produced in the south. No. And not just cocaine. I mean marijuana is also like produced mostly in the south. So they are I mean depending on where a drug is produced it is criminalized or not criminalized it is either celebrated or demonized. So that could be a liberal turn of him but he is also very insisted on the fact that um that in order to fight drugs like really a real war on drugs should be you know the elimination of poverty and upliftment of the people in general.
>1:31:51 For everyone listening and viewing online, please support the important work that's being done. inform yourselves about the real war on drugs or the real real war with drugs and support the struggle for Venezuela to maintain its independence and its sovereignty. Venezuela and US edge toward war footing − but domestic concerns, international risks may hold Washington back
For many in Venezuela, the question is no longer whether tensions with Washington will reach a boiling point – they already have. Rather, the big unknown now is whether the U.S. will follow up on threats and the sinking of drug boats with something more drastic: direct military engagement or even regime change.
Certainly, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is preparing for all eventualities. On Sept. 29, 2025, the leftist leader signed a decree granting him additional powers. The following day, Maduro threatened a “state of emergency.” Already, Caracas has carried out military drills amid talk of being a “republic in arms.”
It follows a month in which Washington has positioned warships, an attack submarine and aircraft in the Caribbean and destroyed at least four suspected “go-fast” drug boats. At the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23, U.S. President Donald Trump warned of more to come, vowing to blow drug traffickers “out of existence” while repeating his assertion that Maduro was behind the trafficking networks.
Maduro and his generals deny that charge. Nonetheless, Washington has set a US$50 million dollar bounty on Maduro’s arrest and has rejected Venezuela’s appeals for talks.
As an expert on international security and U.S.-Latin American relations, I believe the U.S. position appears to be inching toward regime change from a prior position of ambiguity that has fallen short of an outright pledge to remove Maduro.
But Washington will be aware that any direct military engagement in Venezuela will be a messy affair. Despite increasing international isolation, Maduro still has friends in Moscow and Beijing, as well as closer to home in Havana. And such factors may force the Trump administration to continue to walk a fine line between maximum pressure on the Maduro government without full commitment to armed conflict.
<US ramps up pressure
Recent deployments by the U.S. Southern Command demonstrate a shift in posture by the U.S. administration.
The USS Stockdale became the ninth U.S. Navy vessel and third destroyer – alongside USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham – to join the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group maneuvering between Puerto Rico and the Lesser and Leeward Antilles, and the waters north of Venezuela. In all, at least 4,500 Marines and sailors are positioned in the area.
Meanwhile, at least 10 F-35 fighters and multiple MQ-9 drones are reportedly operating from Aguadilla and Ceiba airports in Puerto Rico, offering the capacity for persistent surveillance and strike options.
These forces are more powerful than the entire Venezuelan navy but reportedly fall short of the forces needed for a full-scale invasion.
For the moment, SouthCom is framing the campaign as enhanced counternarcotics operations, rather than a prelude to a blockade or invasion. Statements have highlighted joint patrols and interdiction efforts with the Royal Netherlands Navy, Canada, the Dominican Republic and the United Kingdom, and the humanitarian or information-sharing nature of missions.
SouthCom has described its position as one of readiness, not war. But this could change, especially with the much-anticipated 2025 national defense review expected to prioritize countering the perceived threat of Chinese interference in the Western Hemisphere.
And it is worth recalling that the U.S. has long maintained a light but steady military footprint in the region.
<Caracas pushes back
Caracas has staged military displays of its own.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced on Sept. 15 three days of drills involving naval units, aircraft air-defense assets and militia participation. Maduro has declared “maximum preparedness” and threatened to mobilize a “republic in arms” if attacked.
If enacted, the state of emergency would be effective for 90 days and centralize military control in the office of the president. The aim is clear: to project resolve and raise the cost for Washington of any further escalation.
Venezuela’s military is not negligible, but readiness has been eroded by decades of economic crisis, sanctions and maintenance shortfalls. It is no match for U.S. military dominance at sea or in the air, although it could inflict damage through asymmetric tactics and militia mobilization.
On the U.S. side, the means for coercion through targeted strikes, interdictions, cyberattacks and sanctions are already at hand. Further escalation may, however, hinge on a catalyzing event, such as an attack resulting in the killing of Venezuelan or U.S. military personnel.
<Adversaries and allies
Regionally, most governments have avoided taking sides. One exception is Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who at the United Nations General Assembly called for “criminal proceedings” over the recent U.S. strikes.
In the Caribbean, there is little appetite for hosting a U.S. invasion force. The president of Dominica noted in her speech at the General Assembly that “there is no place in the Caribbean for war.” One exception is Guyana, which is locked in a territorial dispute with Venezuala over the oil-rich Essequibo region and has welcomed U.S. security cooperation.
Yet, an attack on Venezuela or an attempt at regime change risks rallying the country’s allies.
First among them in the region is Cuba. Cuban intelligence and security advisers have long been embedded across Venezuela’s military and security services. This gives Maduro some resilience against internal coups and complicates U.S. efforts to precipitate elite defections from Maduro’s inner circle.
While expressing political support for Maduro, it is highly unlikely that Cuba would ever be in a position to supplement any Venezuelan combat forces given Havana’s own weak position, struggling economy and relatively modest military capabilities.
And despite fresh affirmations of solidarity and the continued presence of Russian “military experts,” Moscow also lacks the political military bandwidth for large, new deployments. Still, long-standing military and technical ties such as training, maintenance, weapons sales and selective systems support offer Maduro a modest but valuable hedge against external pressure.
Even a token port call or bomber overflight could add political friction – and pause for thought in Washington. Russia has sent nuclear-capable bombers to Venezuela in the past, and its navy made a publicized visit to La Guaira in July 2024.
A man in army fatigues speaks and gestures in front of a large photo of another man.
One much more consequential factor could be the position of China.
Beijing plays a consequential role as a buyer of Venezuelan oil. As Western sanctions have set in, a growing share of Venezuelan hydrocarbon exports is now funneled through “shadow fleet” tankers and complex rerouting schemes, allowing crude to reach Chinese refineries despite sanctions and export restrictions.
Any U.S. campaign that disrupts these flows would hit Chinese refiners first. This would likely prompt Beijing to push back diplomatically and commercially.
In late September, China stressed that it “opposes the use of force” and decried external interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs – a clear rebuke of the U.S. military buildup.
The Chinese ambassador in Caracas has also conveyed solidarity to his host, emphasizing that Beijing will “firmly support Venezuela in safeguarding sovereignty, national dignity and social stability.”
China is offering diplomatic support but has stopped short of any pledge of force.
For now, America’s most likely path is, I believe, coastal policing and military pressure. At sea, this means the U.S. continuing to lead counternarcotics operations, but with Navy cover close at hand. The U.S. buildup could well boost underground opposition networks in Venezuela, increasing pressure on the Maduro regime from within.
This will be paired with increased financial pressure in the form of sanctions aimed at further squeezing Venezuela’s state oil industry, but calibrated to avoid a global energy shock. Measures also include restricting dollar-clearing and maritime insurance, blacklisting intermediaries and dark fleet tankers, and targeting front companies.
<Pressure short of war
Nonetheless, expectations of a military clash are edging upward. Several forecasters now put the odds of some form of U.S. strike against Venezuela before year’s end at roughly 1 in 3, with the chances rising further into 2026.
Yet the prospect of an outright invasion remains, I believe, remote. U.S. domestic politics may act as a brake: Opinion polls show most Americans oppose military action to topple Maduro, and an even larger majority reject the idea of a full-scale invasion.
Even so, three factors could shape if and when Washington steps up its action: a deadly incident at sea involving civilians or U.S. personnel; hard evidence that Venezuelan officials are directly tied to large-scale trafficking to the U.S.; and regional governments lining up behind stronger action.
While the odds of a strike and even regime change are rising, Washington’s strategy in the very near term appears to remain one of pressure without full commitment, using shows of force, sanctions and selective strikes to weaken Caracas while avoiding being dragged into a messy war or sparking an oil shock.
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