Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to launch targeted airstrikes against military installations inside Venezuela, a move that could mark a dramatic escalation in Washington’s confrontation with President Nicolás Maduro’s socialist government.
According to a report by the Miami Herald, naval and air bases suspected of aiding drug trafficking networks, including the notorious Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles are among the potential targets. Sources cited by the paper said the operation could begin within days, or even hours, as the administration moves into what officials are calling a new phase of its “war on drug cartels.”
President Donald Trump, however, denied the reports on Friday. Speaking aboard Air Force One, he told reporters simply, “No,” when asked whether he had authorized strikes on Venezuela.
Despite that denial, multiple senior U.S. officials told the Herald that “time is running out for Maduro.” One source claimed at least one top Venezuelan general was prepared to “capture and hand him over,” while another described Maduro as “trapped.”
Military Buildup and Escalating Tensions
In recent weeks, Trump has ordered a large-scale deployment of U.S. military forces to the Caribbean, the largest in the region since the Cold War. The operation includes more than 10,000 troops, the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, nuclear-powered submarines, B-52 bombers, F-35 fighter jets, and MQ-9 Reaper drones.
The White House says the deployment is part of a broader crackdown on drug smuggling networks that use maritime routes from South America. U.S. forces have reportedly carried out at least 13 strikes on suspected drug boats since early September, killing an estimated 57 alleged traffickers.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, widely seen as the architect of the administration’s Venezuela strategy, has framed Maduro’s government as a criminal syndicate masquerading as a state. “You have a narco-state in Venezuela run by a cartel,” Rubio said last week. “This is an operation against narco-terrorists, the al-Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere and they need to be dealt with.”
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly echoed that message, saying, “President Trump has been clear: stop sending drugs and criminals to our country. The president is prepared to use every element of American power to stop the flow of narcotics into our homeland.”
Critics See a Push for Regime Change
Analysts and foreign policy experts say the administration’s rhetoric and military posture suggest motivations beyond narcotics enforcement. Brandon Buck, a Latin America analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, told Fox News that Venezuela’s role in the U.S. drug trade is limited compared with that of Mexico and Colombia.
“It is more likely that those strikes are part of an incremental effort to dislodge Maduro than a genuine attempt to wage war on the cartels,” Buck said. “Pacific and overland routes through Mexico are considerably more prolific, and Venezuela is a relatively minor player, especially with regard to fentanyl.”
While U.S. officials have blamed Venezuela for facilitating drug shipments, the vast majority of fentanyl entering the United States originates in China and transits through Mexico. Venezuelan trafficking networks are largely tied to cocaine shipments bound for Europe and West Africa rather than the U.S. market.
Venezuela’s Response
The Maduro government has denounced Washington’s military buildup as an imperialist provocation. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez claimed earlier this month that “energy” not narcotics, was the real reason behind U.S. aggression.
“For eight weeks we have witnessed open military threats from the United States, which pursues a single goal: to seize Venezuela’s oil, gas, and mineral wealth,” Rodríguez said. “Any attack on the country with the world’s largest oil reserves would have serious consequences for global energy stability.”
Venezuela, which holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world, exports roughly 85 percent of its crude to China. U.S. sanctions have effectively blocked its access to Western financial systems, deepening the nation’s economic collapse and isolating the Maduro regime internationally.
Caracas has accused the CIA of collaborating with neighboring Trinidad and Tobago to stage a “false flag” attack intended to justify a U.S. intervention. It also claimed to have captured a “group of mercenaries” allegedly trained by U.S. intelligence agencies.
Legal and Strategic Controversy
Trump’s campaign against South American cartels has already raised alarms among Democrats, human rights organizations, and legal scholars, who question both the legality and the proportionality of recent U.S. military actions.
In September, Trump informed Congress that the United States is now engaged in a “non-international armed conflict”, a legal designation that allows the government to treat cartel members as “unlawful combatants,” effectively stripping them of due process protections and enabling targeted killings.
So far, the administration has offered few details about the criteria for designating targets or the evidence used to justify strikes on drug boats. It has also not specified what munitions or aircraft were employed, or what quantities of narcotics, if any, were seized.
Several former military lawyers have warned that the administration’s justification for killing suspected traffickers at sea may not meet the standards of international law, which require that lethal force be used only as a last resort after non-lethal measures such as warnings or attempted capture have failed.
Legal experts have also questioned why the Pentagon, rather than the Coast Guard, is conducting the operations. The Coast Guard is normally responsible for maritime law enforcement and anti-smuggling missions in international waters.
A Region on Edge
Maduro, for his part, has accused Trump of “preparing to invade” and has mobilized tens of thousands of reservists in anticipation of a U.S. attack. Venezuelan state television has broadcast near-daily segments warning of “foreign aggression,” while the government has portrayed Trump as a “fascist warmonger” bent on overthrowing socialism in Latin America.
Trump has made little effort to soften his rhetoric. Earlier this month, he told reporters at the White House that Maduro should “not f*** around with America.”
Whether the rumored strikes materialize remains uncertain. But as U.S. forces mass in the Caribbean and Washington’s rhetoric hardens, fears are growing that a campaign framed as part of the war on drugs could ignite a wider regional conflict one that risks plunging Venezuela, and perhaps much of Latin America, into a new and dangerous phase of instability.
