Caribbean Crisis: War, Drugs & Chaos 💥🚢

World News

Top United States officials were scheduled to meet at the White House to discuss Venezuela, as the administration of US President Donald Trump continued to defend its controversial “double strike” operations against alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean. The planned meeting, slated for Monday, coincided with the continued surge of US military assets to the region. This action has raised concerns about a potential land invasion aimed at toppling the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, despite mixed messaging from Trump in recent days. Last week, the US president indicated that land operations against criminal groups in Venezuela could begin “very soon,” representing a significant escalation of the US military’s months-long strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug smugglers in international waters throughout the Caribbean. Days prior, the US designated the *Cartel de los Soles*, a loosely-structured network of corruption within the Venezuelan government led by Maduro, as a “foreign terrorist organization” (FTO). Experts have challenged this characterization, asserting that the *Cartel de los Soles* has historically referred to a longstanding system of corruption within the Venezuelan government. Notably, in a Saturday post on his Truth Social account, Trump stated that airspace over Venezuela should be considered closed “in its entirety,” a move interpreted by some observers as a final preparation for military action. However, on Sunday, Trump told reporters not to “read anything into” the statement. Reporting from Washington, DC on Monday, Al Jazeera’s chief US correspondent Alan Fischer…

“The exact reason behind Trump’s airspace closure announcement remains unclear,” Fisher explained. He further noted that reports within US media suggest the announcement occurred without notification to the Pentagon. When pressed on the matter while on Air Force One, Trump advised against assigning undue significance to the event. However, this did little to quell the ensuing speculation, as no-fly zones are typically established prior to the commencement of any military operation. Lavelle added that numerous observers in Washington have interpreted the developments—including the reported threat and asset build-up—as an attempt to compel Nicolás Maduro’s departure from Venezuela before any potential military action. Some have also pointed to Trump’s past comments regarding Venezuela’s substantial oil reserves, raising concerns about a possible “war for oil.” Military personnel in the region are currently maintaining heightened readiness. “We’ve also, of course, got the sea systems in place,” Lavelle stated. “Specifically, the USS Gerald F Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier strike group, is currently deployed off the coast, alongside the USS Winston S Churchill and the USS Bainbridge.” The situation has intensified amid renewed scrutiny over the Trump administration’s lethal strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug smugglers in international waters in the Caribbean. Over the weekend, Republican and Democratic leaders on the US House and Senate armed services committees announced an increased oversight of these strikes, following reports from the Washington Post and CNN last week concerning Secretary of…

Defense official Pete Hegseth reportedly issued a directive to kill all individuals aboard a boat suspected of smuggling drugs from Venezuela. Following this, military officials ordered a “follow-on” strike against the vessel after two individuals appeared to survive the initial engagement. Despite long-standing legal concerns raised by scholars regarding U.S. strikes on vessels carrying alleged “narco-terrorists” in international waters – concerns about potential violations of both international and domestic law – Hegseth’s explicit order to eliminate all personnel on board the vessels significantly escalated the legal risk. In a letter, a group of former U.S. military lawyers stated that, “if true,” the orders would “constitute war crimes, murder, or both.” Responding to the report, Hegseth asserted that all military actions in the Caribbean were “in compliance with the law of armed conflict.” He subsequently posted a mock image on social media depicting Franklin targeting boats with an RPG launcher. President Trump, commenting on the matter, stated that Hegseth had denied giving the order and that he “believed him 100 percent.” On Monday, the White House confirmed the second strike, with spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stating that Admiral Frank Bradley had issued the order for the follow-on attack. Bradley, according to the White House, “worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United…

“The United States was eliminated,” Leavitt told reporters, characterizing the event as self-defense. Separately, on Monday, Venezuela’s National Assembly was scheduled to convene an extraordinary session to discuss the possibility of establishing a commission to investigate the strikes.