U.S. Attacks on Venezuela

Nov 24, 2025

The following is taken from a speech at a public meeting in Detroit, on November 16.

Since September 15, 2025, there have been over 80 people murdered in waters near Venezuela and Colombia, in over 20 separate attacks by the U.S. military, that we are aware of. The Trump administration is saying that all the boats they blew up were a part of a Venezuelan gang, smuggling drugs into the United States; and this gang is supposed to be under the control of the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. On social media, Trump described the occupants of the boats as “narcoterrorists” who were “at sea in international waters transporting illegals narcotics, heading to the United States.” He has stated that the boats are carrying enough drugs to kill tens of thousands of Americans, but strangely enough, never mentions what type of drugs they are. Also, there has been no published proof to these allegations and there is no reason to believe what they are reporting.

Why would people have doubts? Well, let’s start with information provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Justice Department and the Congressional Research Service who state that Venezuela has no role at all in the smuggling or production of fentanyl. Most of the production happens in Mexico with chemicals from Asia and China. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, there are three countries in South America that produce most of the world’s cocaine supply, and Venezuela is not one of them. They also state that much of that cocaine supply travels through the Pacific and not the Caribbean. Data also shows that if boats were to leave Venezuela with drugs, these drugs in most cases do not end up in the U.S., they end in Africa and Mexico. They stop at other islands, go to Mexico or Central America, not U.S. shores. Clearly, there is no reason to believe what they are telling us.

If anyone were to look at the size of the boats they incinerated, they would have been loaded down with people, with very little room for drugs. But we will never know because their lives, along with any evidence or lack thereof, were destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Then let’s ask ourselves, why does the U.S. government need so much military might gathered in the Caribbean to track some alleged drug boats? The U.S. has ordered eight warships, a nuclear-powered submarine, a mobile lander to transport troops to shore, and 2200 marines sitting on standby to go ashore. Some of the ships carry helicopters; some have cruise missiles. All of these vessels need personnel, which total about 4500 sailors in all. If this weren’t enough, there are 10 F-35 Stealth fighters based in Puerto Rico to reinforce the battle group. News outlets are reporting at least 10,000 troops on land and sea are being used in the Caribbean. Clearly, there is something more behind it, making it hard to believe all of this is needed for a few small boats.

Then there is the allegation that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is the leader of the gang running these boats. The gang that the Trump administration alleges is running these boats has been associated with human trafficking, not drug trafficking. So, if those boats were being run by this particular gang, then those boats were probably carrying people, not drugs. But we will never know, since everything has been obliterated.

So, with no proof of their allegation about Maduro, Trump and his administration still find it necessary to slap a 50 million dollar bounty on Maduro’s head? A bounty that is being paid using taxpayer money. We are spending billions maintaining the enormous military presence in the Caribbean, and now we have to pay for a 50 million dollar bounty? I’m sorry, wasn’t our government just shut down over health care funding?

The Trump administration recently gave secret authorization for the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. This allows the CIA to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela and all kinds of operations in the Caribbean. Even going so far as to being able to conduct covert action against Mr. Maduro or his administration, either unilaterally or in conjunction with the local military. After this announcement, Admiral Alvin Holsey, who was heading the military operations in Caribbean, resigned. He had already brought up his concerns about the mission and the attacks on the alleged drug boats. The former American ambassador to Venezuela from 2018 to 2023 also expressed concern about the military might being used to take out small trafficking boats when he said it is like “using a blowtorch to cook an egg.” Clearly, there is no reason for us to believe what they are telling us.

So really, why is the Trump administration so focused on taking Maduro out of office with such unrelenting brutality? The quick answer is that Maduro is not playing ball with the plans of the U.S. corporations and capitalists. The U.S. government is working as their bully guards to make it easy to get the Venezuelan oil.

Really, this has been the same answer going back to 1910 when Royal Dutch Shell, a British-Dutch owned company, first started developing oil in Venezuela. The U.S. government has been working on behalf of the U.S. banks, corporations and their capitalist friends for a very long time. But as recently as 2019, they laid it out again, just in case there was any doubt. John Bolton, Trump’s national “security” advisor at the time, made the claim that the Venezuelan people would be better off if the U.S. oil companies were the ones calling the shots in THEIR country. He promised, “If we could have American oil companies really invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela, it would be good for the people of Venezuela.” They want the oil. They have been going after the oil for over 100 years.

With such a rich natural resource under their feet, you would think that money was flowing and the Venezuelan people would not have a care in the world. Quite the opposite. Since the first discovery of oil in Venezuela, the country was run by a series of military dictators who served as puppets for the U.S. government, who in turn were working on behalf of the oil barons and the banks. Conditions for the working-class people of Venezuela just got worse as the years went on. The people had no voice since all political parties were banned.

The military dictatorships that plagued Venezuela have been fueled by the U.S. government and their imperialist partners and continued to tear down the population for decades to come. Just imagine, between 2013 and 2019, approximately eight million people fled Venezuela, many to the United States.

These attacks are what continue today. As of this past Friday, President Trump continues to make aggressive threats to Venezuela, saying, “I sort of made up my mind.… I can’t tell you what it is, but we made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of stopping drugs from pouring in.” If by “progress” he means killing people, then this would be a correct statement. And even though they claim they are making “progress”, they are still adding more military forces to the area. America’s largest aircraft carrier, the Ford, was moved from its position in the Mediterranean and is about to take up a position within striking distance of the country. This will increase the military personal from 10,000 to 15,000 sitting in the Caribbean. They have even given these military maneuverings a name, “Operation Southern Spear.”

Trump and his administration are still saying this is all about drugs, but it sure doesn’t feel that way. In a recent interview on Air Force One, he told the reporter, “If they stop sending drug boats, there won’t be any problems.” Still not providing any proof that the boats that were attacked were drug boats, or what drugs they are stopping. The U.S. threats are only causing more confusion and speculation by the American people and the U.S. allies as to the real reason why the U.S. is in Venezuela. Some of our allies have even said they are no longer sharing information with the U.S. as they fear it will help the U.S. attack more boats.

No one is really sure what will come from all of this U.S. aggression, but right now it just seems to be pushing us closer and closer to war. President Maduro has placed his military on high alert, and their guns are cocked. Trump’s former advisor on Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, in a panel discussion last week said, “Either Trump is going to win or Maduro is going to win.” Once again giving us reason not to believe any of the explanations from Trump and his fellow goons.

What the U.S. government is doing in Venezuela is not about drugs. It is not about humanitarian concerns. It is about oil and it is about money. History has shown that the U.S. government, the U.S. banks and corporation alongside with their imperialist allies are only interested in making money off the backs of the Venezuelan people. These military maneuvers and killings should be considered criminal. Actions like this will not stop until the working class unites, across borders, to fight the capitalist domination that has no concern about our lives and our future. All the more reason to fight for the development of OUR party, the Working Class Party.