The Caribbean on a war footing
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With the declared aim of waging war on Venezuelan drug cartels, the United States has deployed a major military presence in the Caribbean since September, including the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford.
At least 21 vessels have reportedly been destroyed in airstrikes so far, with at least 87 people killed.
It is described as the largest US military operation in the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama.
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The United States has presented no public evidence that the targeted vessels were actually carrying narcotics. Experts argue that even if they were, they did not pose an immediate threat.
The legality of the strikes is being questioned, with the United Nations describing them as “extrajudicial executions”*, while US legal scholars and lawmakers have gone as far as raising concerns about potential war crimes.
*Killings carried out without legal process, considered a serious violation of human rights and international law.
Seventy-four percent of cocaine entering the United States reportedly arrives via the Pacific, while only about 8% comes by speedboats through the Caribbean.
Venezuela is considered primarily a transit country for cocaine destined mainly for Europe, originating from neighboring Colombia.
Trump claimed that the targeted vessels were “loaded with fentanyl*,” but fentanyl is primarily produced in Mexico using precursor chemicals sourced from China.
*About 50 times more potent than heroin, fentanyl has been responsible for record overdose deaths in the US over the past five years.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro argues that the US is using the war on drugs as a pretext “to impose regime change” and to “get its hands on” Venezuela’s oil reserves.
The US president accuses Maduro of leading the so-called “Cartel of the Suns” — a group whose existence many experts dispute — and has offered a $50 million reward for his capture.
In a sharp escalation, Trump is reported to have issued an ultimatum demanding Maduro’s resignation and threatened strikes inside Venezuelan territory.
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Venezuela holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world — around 300 billion barrels — representing roughly 18% of global reserves.
Despite its vast natural wealth, production remains low due to economic and political factors, including US sanctions.
As a result, Venezuela ranks only 12th globally in oil exports, with annual exports of around $4.05 billion. By comparison, Saudi Arabia -with smaller reserves- exports oil worth approximately $181 billion annually.
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Since 2019, Venezuela has been under US sanctions, including a strict oil embargo, forcing it to sell crude on the black market and/or at steep discounts.
The US designation of the “Cartel of the Suns” as a Foreign Terrorist Organization — allegedly led by Maduro — is expected to further tighten economic pressure on a country once again nearing hyperinflation.
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In power since 2013, socialist President Nicolás Maduro -political successor to Hugo Chávez, a leading figure of Latin America’s radical left- was elected to a third presidential term in 2024.
Although polls had suggested the opposition would win comfortably, Maduro defied expectations. The result prompted Western governments (primarily the US) and independent observers to express concerns over the integrity of the election.
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Venezuelan opposition leader and Trump ally María Corina Machado was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, she was honored for “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
Machado has accused the Maduro government of electoral fraud and recently stated that the president would leave office “with or without negotiation.”
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While Trump has declared war on the “narco-trafficker” Maduro, he granted clemency to Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, who had been convicted on drug-trafficking charges, stating that he had been treated “harshly” and “unfairly.”
Hernández (2014–2022) had been sentenced to 45 years in prison in the United States for helping turn Honduras into a “narco-state,” after US prosecutors concluded he used his position to facilitate traffickers in “flooding the United States with cocaine.”
