September 4, 2025

SHARE |

U.S. Strikes Venezuelan Narco-Terrorists as Tensions with Caracas Escalate

AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos

Tensions are continuing to escalate between the U.S. and Venezuela as U.S. President Donald Trump has sent several Navy warships, including at least three Aegis guided-missile destroyers, to the Caribbean and the Pacific coast of Latin America. Earlier this week, the U.S. attacked a four-engine speedboat with members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua on board.  On Truth Social, President Trump posted the following: “Earlier this morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility.” He went on to add, “the strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!”

Tren de Aragua was designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) earlier this year, along with a number of other drug cartels and violent gangs from Mexico, Central, and South America. The strike represents a radical departure from traditional U.S. counternarcotics operations, which are typically delegated to the U.S. Coast Guard and involve intercepting and boarding vessels to search and seize narcotics, instead of attacking these boats with airstrikes. This was the first known incident of the Trump administration using deadly force against drug traffickers from Latin America. The strike occurred in international waters and is emblematic of the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to combating drug cartels that seek to smuggle and traffic narcotics into the United States.

The strike was launched by a special operations aircraft, but the Trump administration has still not clarified if it came from an attack helicopter or an MQ-9 Reaper drone. As reported by the Washington Post, “Defense officials, who said initially that they intended to provide additional details about the operation, declined to address questions seeking clarity on what transpired Tuesday, including the legal authority used to justify the strike; the estimated weight of narcotics on board; whether U.S. forces attempted to interdict, board or otherwise communicate with the vessel; and if its crew was first warned before the boat was struck with deadly force.” Following the American military buildup in Latin American waters, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro deployed 4.5 million militiamen around Venezuela to protect the country from what Maduro has called “imperial aggression,” and has stated that the country is at "maximum preparedness" against U.S. hostility. According to reporting by France24, thousands of civilians lined up throughout Caracas to enlist in the civilian militia.

Between the buildup of military muscle off the coast of Venezuela, the recent strike against Tren de Aragua, and the promise of more to come, Trump’s campaign against Maduro has escalated. The recent strikes are further evidence of the increased stakes—doubling a bounty on Maduro to $50 million in early August for his ties to the Venezuelan gang Cartel of the Sun, according to the U.S. Department of State. This tactic appears to aim to delegitimize Maduro’s position as president and instead present him as both a criminal and a national security threat. U.S. press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated during a press briefing last week: “the Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela. It is a narco-terror cartel. Maduro is not a legitimate president. He is a fugitive head of this drug cartel. He has been indicted in the United States for trafficking drugs into our country and it is the utmost responsibility of this president and this administration to prevent the illicit flow of drugs into our country and to protect citizens from those deadly poisons.”

There are legitimate concerns that the Trump administration’s more assertive stance against Maduro could make the Venezuelan leader more popular domestically, in a rally-around-the-flag effect. After all, the United States has a long and sordid history of engineering coups, counter-coups, and regime change operations throughout Latin America, including in Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, to name just a few examples. The current buildup is reminiscent of previous U.S. military campaigns in Grenada (1983) and Panama (1989). Washington has also supported strongmen and vigilante groups in order to achieve its foreign policy objectives, leading many in Central and Latin America to be inherently suspicious of U.S. motives. Venezuela has been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration dating back to its first term in office. Caracas continues to maintain close relations with a coterie of U.S. adversaries, including Iran and Russia, while also pursuing policies that have led to an exodus of Venezuelans out of the country, desperate to escape the failed state, which remains in an economic morass despite its vast oil wealth. There are also U.S. security concerns about the presence of terrorist groups like Lebanese Hezbollah enjoying safe haven in Venezuela.

Though some experts are assessing whether Washington’s actions and anti-drug policies are potentially being used as a guise to implement regime change in Caracas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio — who some consider to be hawkish on Venezuela— has consistently criticized the Maduro regime for its connections to criminal enterprises. Now, as Secretary of State and acting National Security Advisor, Rubio is in a uniquely powerful position to continue to drive U.S. policy, giving him the platform to pursue the hardline campaign against Venezuela that he has long advocated for. As with many foreign policy situations under the Trump administration, Washington’s zigzagging foreign policy style casts uncertainty on how it will approach the conflict following the strike. It has led some to question whether the recent strike could mirror the logic behind Operation Midnight Hammer in June — using the strike to send a strategic message without triggering a full-scale war — or if Washington is intent on further escalation. In an interview with Fox & Friends, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not rule out the possibility of regime change, stating: “that’s a presidential-level decision, and we’re prepared with every asset that the American military has.”