President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One, October 19, 2025, en route to Joint Base Andrews, Md., as he returns from a trip to Florida
DONALD TRUMP upends Marx’s famous observation on history repeating itself. If his first term was farce, his second looks more like tragedy.
Trump’s second administration is more serious than his first in its assault on democratic rights in the United States, as well as in its marshalling of far-right forces worldwide to undermine democracy elsewhere. It is also more hegemonic, with centrist politicians from Britain and Europe who viewed him as a passing aberration before now accommodating to his hateful politics.
That means the US military build-up in the Caribbean, accompanied by lawless murders of boat crews in international waters, should be taken seriously.
Trump has long hated Venezuela’s socialist government. But his efforts to overthrow it in his first term were absurd, ranging from recognising unelected clown Juan Guaido as the head of an alternative government that controlled no people or territory (“president of Narnia,” as the actual Venezuelan government quipped) to backing a ludicrous “invasion” led by two former US commandos in a speedboat. These absurdities had deadly consequences, particularly in restricting access to medical aid and Venezuela’s own sovereign assets during the coronavirus pandemic — but they never looked likely to secure regime change.
By contrast, the current concentration of US forces off Venezuela is its biggest Caribbean deployment in decades, consisting of 10,000 troops, warships including amphibious assault vessels, a submarine, fighter jets and attack helicopters. Last week, three B-52 heavy bombers flew from Louisiana and circled for hours just off the Venezuelan coast.
That the US is really considering a military assault is suggested too by its deepening feud with Colombia’s left-wing President Gustavo Petro. Trump suspended military aid to Colombia on Wednesday, warning Petro to “watch it” and threatening “very serious action against him and his country.”
Trump claims Petro is complicit in the illegal drug trade. This, of course, is also the official excuse for bombing boats in the Caribbean.
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Washington has launched a “counter-narcotics operation” with seven warships in international waters in the Caribbean.
President Luiz Inácio da Silva said on Monday, October 20, that foreign interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean could cause “greater damage than what is intended to be avoided” amid the escalation of tension between Venezuela and the United States.
During his speech at the ceremony to hand over credentials to ambassadors at the Itamaraty Palace, Lula did not directly mention Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro or US President Donald Trump, but said that maintaining peace in a region experiencing a period of instability is a priority for Brazil.
“In Latin America and the Caribbean, we are also experiencing a time of growing polarization and instability. Maintaining the region as a zone of peace is our priority. We are a continent free of weapons of mass destruction, without ethnic or religious conflicts. Foreign interventions can cause greater damage than intended,” the president stated.
Last Thursday, October 16, the president publicly defended the neighboring country. “Everyone says that we are going to turn Brazil into Venezuela, and Brazil will never be Venezuela, and Venezuela will never be Brazil, each one will be themselves. What we defend is that the Venezuelan people are the masters of their destiny, and it is not any president of another country who has to give advice on what Venezuela or Cuba will be like,” he said without naming Trump.
In response, Maduro, who considers the action a “threat” to pressure “regime change,” ordered military exercises along the borders. The head of state also announced the activation of three new Comprehensive Defense Operational Zones (ZODI) in the states of Nueva Esparta, Sucre, and Delta Amacuro.
“This is how we are concluding all the necessary preparations, reaching the ideal state for the comprehensive defense of the Homeland,” Maduro said on his Telegram channel.
Venezuelan deputy Raúl Campos, who was in Brazil last Friday, October 17, to discuss the current situation, said that the population is organizing to defeat the “imperialist maneuver”.
“In Venezuela, we are experiencing an unprecedented aggression from US imperialism, which is desperate. It is desperate because all attempts to defeat the Bolivarian government have failed. Right now, the people enjoy complete tranquility and peace. They are dedicated to studying, working, and preparing for the Christmas holidays, but we are also preparing to defend the territory,” Campos declared.
This article was first published by Brasil de Fato in Portuguese.
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.
People hold up Cuban and Venezuelan national flags during a rally in support of Venezuela, in Havana, Cuba, October 17, 2025. Photo: CGTN
The demonstration rejected US interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs as US military operations in the Caribbean Sea increase.
On October 17, tens of thousands of Cubans took to the streets of Havana to show their support for Venezuela in the face of a potential intervention by the United States following its recent military deployment in the Caribbean Sea.
Under anti-imperialist and pro-sovereignty slogans, nearly 50,000 participants gathered in front of the statue of Simón Bolívar, the Venezuelan military leader and independence politician. The event was led by the country’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The event was also attended by Pedro Infante Aparicio, vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and the National Assembly, who told those present that both Cuba and Venezuela are victims of the supremacism and warmongering of the White House. He added: “From this platform, we join President Nicolás Maduro in calling for an end to the xenophobic attempts to compare the dignity of Venezuelans with criminal groups, and we demand an end to the policy of terrorism against our people.”
For his part, Díaz-Canel wrote on X: “At a time when the empire and its misguided leader are approving covert CIA operations against Venezuela, we express our solidarity with that brotherly people and, especially, with its President Nicolás Maduro. Today, Cuba is more mindful than ever of the words of [José] Martí: ‘Give me Venezuela to serve, she has in me a son,’ and of Fidel [Castro]: ‘For Venezuela, we must give everything. We are confident that Venezuela and its popular, military, and police forces will once again overcome the threats and actions of the empire.”
In addition, Díaz-Canel presented a book containing more than 4 million signatures from Cubans who support the Bolivarian Revolution and condemn attempts to destabilize the government of Nicolás Maduro.
For its part, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba, Granma, wrote in an editorial: “Because the sister nation of Venezuela is not alone and because its resistance symbolizes the history of all peoples who believe in sovereignty, more than 50,000 Havana residents, representing all Cubans, gathered today in front of the statue of liberator Simón Bolívar in solidarity with that country.
Military pressure against Venezuela intensifies
Several weeks ago, the United States deployed a large number of ships and troops to the Caribbean Sea to supposedly stop drugs from entering the United States. In addition, Washington declared the Cartel of the Suns an international terrorist organization and claimed that Maduro and other senior Chavista leaders were running the cartel.
The United States is offering a USD 50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and conviction. These accusations have been categorically denied by Venezuelan authorities, who see them as an attempt to legitimize a possible armed invasion of the South American country.
Under this premise, which many have questioned, Washington has claimed that it has sunk five small boats allegedly carrying drugs, killing 27 people on board. This type of pressure is in addition to the economic sanctions and trade blockades imposed by Washington for several years.
In addition, it was revealed a few days ago that Donald Trump had authorized secret CIA operations in Venezuela, according to the New York Times. Among the covert operations are lethal actions carried out in coordination with or independent of the US military.
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.
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.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One, October 19, 2025, en route to Joint Base Andrews, Md., as he returns from a trip to Florida
