On September 13, 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Maduro held historic talks in Beijing at the Great Hall of the People (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China via Twitter)
This week, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally expressed its opposition to US military operations in the Caribbean, following an attack on October 15 that left six people dead on Venezuelan vessels. Spokesperson Lin Jian stated that Beijing “opposes the use or threat of force in international relations” and rejects external interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs.
In response to questions from reporters, Lin Jian criticized Washington’s unilateral actions, which mobilized warships and a nuclear submarine in the region under the pretext of combating drug cartels. The October 15 attack brings the total number of deaths in five recent US military actions against Venezuelan vessels to 27.
China also expressed support for the declaration by 33 Latin American countries on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone on the continent.
China supports strengthening international cooperation to combat transnational crimes and opposes unilateral law enforcement actions by the United States against vessels from other countries that exceed reasonable and necessary limits,” said the Chinese spokesman.
Venezuelan diplomatic mobilization
This week, the Venezuelan Embassy in Beijing also summoned diplomatic representatives from various countries and international media outlets to denounce what it classifies as a risk of military invasion. Ambassador Remigio Ceballos Ichaso told Brasil de Fato that Washington is conducting “a disinformation campaign aimed at justifying an intervention.”
“Accusing Venezuela of being a drug cartel is completely false, a fiction that they have been trying to impose on the international community for decades,” said Ceballos Ichaso.
The Venezuelan government has received expressions of solidarity from Nicaragua, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico. Humberto Collado, commercial attaché at the Nicaraguan embassy in China, said that “what the US is doing is threatening a democratic country, its president, and its entire people, undermining the socio-political stability of the region.”
Russian and UN position
Russia criticized US military actions through statements by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, stating that such operations “represent an escalation in the region, violate international law and Venezuelan sovereignty.”
The World Drug Report 2025 from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recognizes Venezuela’s efforts to combat drug trafficking and points out that the country is not among the main international drug corridors. The UN has emphasized that any military or coercive intervention that violates the sovereignty of a member state is contrary to the United Nations Charter.
US sanctions against Venezuela began in 2006, during Hugo Chávez’s administration, intensifying after 2013 with Nicolás Maduro, totaling about a thousand restrictive measures by 2019. These measures resulted in food and medicine shortages, restrictions on access to essential resources, and impacts on the Venezuelan economy.
Internal mobilization
President Nicolás Maduro ordered national defense military exercises with the participation of Bolivarian militias and volunteers, including fishermen and rural residents. The government characterized the mobilization as defensive and voluntary, aimed at ensuring national sovereignty.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Maduro reiterated Venezuela’s commitment to peace and international law. Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada stated that “the real threat to regional peace is the presence of US military and nuclear weapons in the Caribbean.”
This article was translated from an article originally published in Portuguese on Brasil de Fato.
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
US President Donald Trump looks on as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers remarks during a joint news conference at the White House on September 29, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The Venezuelan ambassador accused the Trump administration of “killing everyone who is on the sea working.”
Venezuelan United Nations Ambassador Samuel Moncada on Thursday delivered a scathing denunciation of US President Donald Trump’s drone attacks on purported drug boats off the coast of his country.
While holding up a copy of Thursday’s edition of the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, which highlighted two Trinidadian citizens who were killed by a US drone strike while on a boat, Moncada lambasted the Trump administration and compared it to a serial killer.
“There is a killer roaming around the Caribbean!” he declared. “He’s bloodthirsty! He’s killing everyone who is on the sea working! And people from different countries—Colombia, Trinidad, etc.—are suffering the effects of these massacres!”
🇻🇪 At the UN, Venezuela alerts of “a killer roaming around the Caribbean” committing massacres@SMoncada_VEN displays today's @GuardianTT newspaper, which reported that two Trinbagonians were murdered in the latest U.S. strike on a boat in the Caribbean pic.twitter.com/ztIBxawWQk
According to Reuters, Moncada this week also sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council asking it to rule on the legality of the US strikes, while also releasing a statement affirming Venezuela’s sovereignty.
The two Trinidadian citizens mentioned by Moncada were killed in a Tuesday drone strike that also reportedly took the lives of four other men.
In interviews with the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, friends and relatives of 26-year-old Chad Joseph, one of the men killed in the strike, denied that he was involved with any drug trafficking.
“I find it wrong because it have—people will be innocent and they will still do and say otherwise,” Joseph’s mother, Lenore Burnley, told the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. “The sea law is they supposed to stop the boat and intercept it, not blow it up like that.”
With the Tuesday strike, the total number of people killed by the Trump administration’s attacks on suspected drug boats totaled at least 27.
The administration carried out yet another boat strike on Thursday, and Reutersreported that at least two crew members had survived the attack, marking the first time that an attack on suspected drug vessels had left any survivors.
Reuters noted that “the development raises new questions, including whether the US military rendered aid to the survivors and whether they are now in US military custody, possibly as prisoners of war.”
The Trump administration so far has provided no legal justification for the strikes on boats, nor has it provided any evidence that any of the boats it has targeted were involved in the trafficking of illegal drugs.
Many legal experts believe that the strikes on the boats would be illegal even if they were found to have been carrying drugs, however, and some criticshave accused the Trump administration of extrajudicial murder.
Moncada said Thursday that the Trump administration, which has also reportedly approved “lethal operations” by the CIA in Venezuela, is “looking for wars.”
“Everybody knows what’s going on here,” he said. “They are fabricating a war. The emperor is naked. Stop pretending this is complicated.”
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
A US Army soldier watching a burning oil well at Rumaila oil field in Iraq in April 2003. Photo: US Navy
With the suspension of dialogue between the US and Venezuela, the sighting of US B-52 bombers in Venezuelan airspace, and the further lethal US strikes in the Caribbean, the US seems to be accelerating its drive towards war with Venezuela
The mood in the Caribbean grows increasingly tense, as the United States intensifies its military threats. Beneath the deceptive shroud of the “war on drugs,” the United States is actively executing a blueprint for military intervention in Venezuela, employing lethal force and projecting power in a manner that legal institutions and regional leaders have condemned as a profound threat to international order. This aggression is not a law enforcement operation; it is the negation of law, a neocolonial revival of the Monroe Doctrine, designed to shatter the sovereignty of Venezuela, seize control of the world’s largest oil reserves, and install a compliant regime.
A license to kill: the precedent of state murder
A chilling adoption of extrajudicial violence has marked the current escalation. The Trump administration has ordered unilateral military strikes against private vessels near the Venezuelan coast, allegedly to stop drug trafficking. To launch these alarming attacks, the US military has deployed a massive naval force of warships, drones, and special operations forces.
These strikes have resulted in the summary execution of at least 27 people as of recent reports. The most recent lethal strike in the Caribbean resulted in the “elimination” of 6 more people. This is not law enforcement; it is extrajudicial murder and a campaign that now stands as part of a war plan against Venezuela. The administration has characterized the victims, without credible proof, as drug traffickers and “terrorists,” a claim that, even if true, provides no legal authority for the US president to execute whomever it decides.
Legal and human rights organizations have been unequivocal in their condemnation of this profound and dangerous policy, which replaces established law enforcement procedures with premeditated lethal force. The New York City Bar Association (NYCBA), a key voice on international legal ethics, has strongly denounced these actions. The NYCBA stated explicitly that “Because the recent attacks on Venezuelan vessels and their crews were unauthorized by US law and in violation of binding international law, they were illegal summary executions – murders.” They further argued that these actions violate the fundamental international principle that “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life” under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The US government possesses ample legal authority for the Coast Guard to interdict and search vessels suspected of carrying narcotics, followed by prosecution in US courts according to due process requirements. However, in the case of the Venezuelan vessels, the Coast Guard’s Congressionally authorized police function was bypassed; instead, the crews were simply targeted and executed by overwhelming military force. Regional leaders, including Colombian President Gustavo Petro, have condemned the extrajudicial killings, highlighting the profound anxiety across Latin America over a return to unilateral US military action under the cover of anti-narcotics policy.
Beyond the lethal strikes, the US government has engaged in significant military posturing that amounts to a direct challenge to Venezuelan sovereignty. The sighting of US B-52 bombers in Venezuelan airspace, flying in close range, is a significant escalation. This warmongering has nothing to do with the “war on drugs” and everything to do with regime change to plunder Venezuela’s oil. This reckless push for war is a criminal act of international aggression.
The Trump Administration’s unilateral drone strikes in the Caribbean, combined with the White House’s termination of all negotiations with Venezuela, appear as a precursor for a full-scale regime change operation. This is a critical moment. We must sound the alarm: there is a risk of a new, catastrophic conflict in the region.
The US government’s own officials continue to escalate the crisis with bellicose rhetoric and actions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a key architect of the regime-change policy, has consistently refused to rule out a military option, asserting that the Maduro regime has become a “threat to the region and even to the United States.”
Venezuela’s response has been one of principled defense of its sovereignty. Ambassador to the UN, Samuel Moncada has repeatedly sounded the alarm on the global stage, arguing that the US military deployment in the Caribbean is a massive propaganda operation that seeks “excuses to fabricate a conflict” to seize the country’s oil wealth. Moncada affirmed that, “The United States believes that the Caribbean belongs to it because it has been using the expansionist Monroe Doctrine for over 100 years, which is nothing more than a remnant of colonialism.”
President Nicolás Maduro has called on Washington to resume dialogue, stating, “Our diplomacy isn’t the diplomacy of cannons, of threats, because the world cannot be the world of 100 years ago,” while simultaneously mobilizing national defense exercises to ensure the country is prepared for any direct assault. The NYCBA warned that attacks against Venezuelan vessels and reported threats against the Venezuelan government violate the nation’s obligations under the United Nations Charter, with the risk of escalating to open hostilities.
Parallels with the Iraq War: oil, ideology, and deception
The current situation is chillingly reminiscent of the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In that case, the Bush administration justified unilateral action on the basis of “weapons of mass destruction,” but this was a pretext. The true objectives were not limited to oil, but also included achieving profound ideological and political goals – overthrowing a government to reshape Middle Eastern politics and assert dominance.
Washington must learn the lessons of this history. The Bush administration promised a quick victory in Iraq. Instead, the invasions and occupation claimed countless Iraqi lives, resulted in tens of thousands of American soldiers killed or wounded, and destabilized the region. The notion that the US can carry out military invasions into the heart of Latin America without a massive blowback is outlandish.
In the case of Venezuela, the “war on drugs” and the labeling of the government as a “threat” serve as the new rhetorical pretexts. The US interest is multifaceted: it involves securing the world’s largest proven oil reserves and achieving the ideological and political goal of overthrowing a socialist government to assert dominance and reshape Latin American politics. The US seeks to dismantle the Bolivarian Revolution and eliminate a major center of anti-imperialist politics in the hemisphere.
The current escalation is not about law enforcement or counter-narcotics; it is about regime change and plunder. While members of Congress from both Democratic and Republican parties, as well as key voices of public opinion, are increasingly speaking up about the illegality of these strikes and the absence of credible information from the administration, this situation requires much more urgency, once the escalation ladder is climbed, there may be no going back. The international community must recognize this aggressive campaign for what it is: a criminal act of international aggression. The world must stand against this threat of a new, catastrophic conflict.
Manolo De Los Santos is Executive Director of The People’s Forum and a researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. His writing appears regularly in Monthly Review, Peoples Dispatch, CounterPunch, La Jornada, and other progressive media. He coedited, most recently, Viviremos: Venezuela vs. Hybrid War (LeftWord, 2020), Comrade of the Revolution: Selected Speeches of Fidel Castro (LeftWord, 2021), and Our Own Path to Socialism: Selected Speeches of Hugo Chávez (LeftWord, 2023).
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Despite a declassified US intelligence report finding no link between Venezuela’s government and the Tren de Aragua gang, Trump’s campaign of airstrikes in the Caribbean has killed 27 people thus far
US President Trump carried out yet another lethal strike off the Venezuelan coast on October 14, killing six people. In a social media post, Trump claimed the six men killed above the ship were “narcoterrorists,” without providing any evidence.
This latest airstrike is the fifth of its kind, with world leaders and international activists condemning the Trump policy as a violation of human rights. The death toll of Trump’s strikes against small boats in the Caribbean Sea now stands at 27.
The airstrikes represent the latest escalation of a tense relationship between the United States and Venezuela. Last week, Trump ordered the termination of diplomacy with Venezuela. Richard Grenell, special presidential envoy, was directed by Trump to halt all diplomatic outreach and talks with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
On Tuesday, October 14, Trump once again repeated allegations that the Venezuelan government is responsible for introducing gangs into the US. “What they do very well is they send their criminals into the United States, and they send Tren de Aragua.”
The Trump administration has pushed the narrative that Venezuela is a leader in drug trafficking through the groups “Tren de Aragua”, now designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the Trump administration, and “Cartel de los Soles” as a way to push escalation in the Caribbean Sea and justify Trump’s draconian immigration policies, including justifying massive ICE raids and the illegal deportation of 250 Venezuelans to El Salvador earlier this year.
A declassified assessment from the US National Intelligence Council, released in early May 2025, that the Venezuela’s government “probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States.”
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
US President Donald Trump speaking at the State of the Union in March 2025. Photo: POTUS / X
After killing 21 people in a series of airstrikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela, the US closes all diplomatic channels and prepares for further military aggression in the region.
On October 6, US President Donald Trump ordered the termination of diplomacy with Venezuela. Richard Grenell, special presidential envoy, was directed by Trump to halt all diplomatic outreach and talks with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The move follows multiple US missile strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea. Washington claims the operations target drug traffickers, but regional leaders and legal experts say they are escalating into an undeclared war against Venezuela.
Caracas calls for diplomacy, US abandons it for war
Grenell had previously been the primary negotiator between the two governments and was involved in US-Venezuela policy decisions in general.
Back in September, President Maduro sent a letter directly to Trump, calling for diplomacy and refuting the drug-trafficking accusations the White House has levied. He pointed out how crucial Grenell’s work had been in overcoming false reports and misunderstandings that had emerged around deportation flights from the US.
“This issue was swiftly resolved and clarified during discussions with Mr. Richard Grenell. This channel has functioned flawlessly to date,” the letter stated.
Maduro cited UN data demonstrating the country’s “impeccable record in the fight against international drug trafficking”.
“This and other matters will always be open for direct and frank discussion with your special envoy Grenell, so that we can overcome media noise and fake news.”
Weeks later, Grenell’s communication with Caracas was ceased completely by President Trump.
Washington’s total diplomatic disengagement suggests that hardliners like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who have openly called for regime change in Venezuela, are now freely leading a more aggressive, militaristic approach toward the most oil-rich nation on earth.
The US military has now carried out airstrikes on at least four small boats in the Caribbean, raising the reported death toll of Washington’s current military aggression in the region to 21. Officials say the campaign aims to combat alleged drug trafficking but have provided no evidence for the claim.
Airstrikes began on September 2, when 11 people – later identified as fishermen – were killed in a missile strike on the first targeted ship off the coast of Venezuela.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro recently announced that the fourth bombed boat was a Colombian vessel, accusing Trump of opening a “war scenario” in the region.
“This is no war against smuggling,” Petro said. “It is a war against oil and it must be stopped by the world.”
The Trump administration has denied Petro’s allegation that the vessel was Colombian, however, an anonymous US official confirmed to the New York Times that Colombian citizens were on board.
The uncharged, untried, and largely unidentified victims of the last month of US aggression are accused of being narcotraffickers by the Trump administration.
The US has deployed at least eight warships, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, several P-8 surveillance planes, and 4,000 military personnel to the waters of the Caribbean, as well as F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico.
The scale and level of aggression, combined with the lack of evidence for drug trafficking accusations, has raised questions about Washington’s true intentions with Venezuela. Sources inside the Trump administration told NBC News in September, “The goal is to force Maduro to make rash decisions that could ultimately lead to his ouster – without American boots on the ground.”
US is waging an “armed conflict” against “unlawful combatants”, declares Trump
Legal experts, US lawmakers, and anti-war groups have asserted that military force in international waters is illegal, violating both international and US law, bypassing due process and law enforcement norms, and lacking any clear justification.
In an apparent attempt to provide some legal basis for the hostilities, President Trump sent a report to Congress last week declaring that the US military is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels and has killed “unlawful combatants” in the Caribbean.
The president has “designated [cartels] as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States,” Earl Matthews, the Pentagon’s general counsel told lawmakers, as reported by CNN.
The report sent to Congress is required by law (Section 1543a United States Code) whenever US military forces are engaged in hostilities, but it doesn’t automatically grant or expand the legal basis for a military campaign.
However, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth already cited the recent “legal justification” by President Trump when pressed on Sunday about the most recent airstrike at sea. “We have every authorization needed,” Hegseth told Fox News. “These [cartels] are designated as foreign terrorist organizations.”
Although some senators have questioned “the legal rationale, the mission itself, and the intel surrounding the strikes”, a war powers bill that would have limited Trump’s power, halting further airstrikes on boats without authorization from Congress, was voted down on Thursday, October 9.
The White House insists that its “armed conflict” is legal and constitutional. Yet experts and critics say Trump is waging a secret war against undefined enemies, without fully informing Congress or the people of the US – who overwhelmingly reject US intervention in Venezuela. Polls show that only 16% of Americans would support a US invasion of the country.
Threats of land strikes
Despite widespread opposition, President Trump has openly threatened a direct US attack on Venezuela. During an event on October 5 at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, he praised the Navy for how successful the missile strikes on alleged drug boats have been.
“We’ll have to start looking about the land because they’ll be forced to go by land,” he said.
The threat came days after NBC News reported that US military officials had in fact already drawn up plans for drone strikes within Venezuelan territory.
Venezuela belongs to Venezuelans, declares Maduro
Caracas has attempted to open dialogue with special envoy Richard Grenell, President Trump himself, and now the UN Security Council. Amid its diplomatic efforts, the country has also made massive efforts to increase its security and defense capabilities.
On October 6, Maduro announced that Venezuelan security forces had foiled a “false flag” plot by local extremists to bomb the US embassy in Caracas, in an apparent attempt to justify US military provocation. Maduro assured that his administration would reinforce security measures to protect the embassy “despite all the differences we have had with the governments of the United States.”
As soon as the US military deployment was announced by Marco Rubio in August, Venezuela mobilized its 4.5 million members of the Bolivarian National Militia. However, after enlistment campaigns calling on the Venezuelan people to defend the country’s sovereignty against US aggression, 8 million people signed up to join the militia, raising the total size of the force to over 12 million civilian combatants, according to the government. The country has conducted advanced training across the entire territory and the Caribbean Sea to consolidate its defense forces and prepare for any US attack.
“What they want is war in the Caribbean and South America. For a regime change to impose a puppet government and steal the oil, gas, and gold,” the president of the Bolivarian Republic proclaimed during the inauguration of a massive hospital in Caracas.
“But we have news for the North American empire,” he continued. “That oil, that gas, that gold, this land, and this people will continue to belong to Venezuelans. And we will never allow our homeland to be violated or touched. Never!”
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
