OMNI
VENEZUELA ANTHOLOGY #8,
November 6, 2025
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, Ecology, and Democracy
What’s at Stake: NO WAR WITH VENEZUELA. President Trump is violating both the UN Charter and the US Constitution. UN Charter: Chapter 1, Article 2, #4: All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations. Behind this injunction, following the horrendous slaughter of WWII, is the conviction that war is the worst of crimes, and that preventing or stopping a war is the highest virtue. Furthermore, threat or use of force against another nation, or war, can be authorized only by Congress. The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war, because the gravity of such a decision should not be in the hands of one person, but should be a national decision. Such an inhibition to war has resulted in Congress declaring war on 11 occasions, including its first declaration of war with Great Britain in 1812. Congress approved its last formal declaration of war during World War II. All other US wars have been illegal or lawless. --Dick
CONTENTS #8
Padrino Lopez. “The Militias Make Venezuela Impregnable.”
TEXTS #8
[VFP-all] NO WAR ON VENEZUELA - Week of Coordinated Protests, Nov. 15-23 - Join Planning Meeting this Saturday, Nov. 8 at 4 pm ET, 3 pm CT, 1 pm PT
Gerry Condon via uark.onmicrosoft.com 11-6-25
Veterans For Peace is a co-sponsor of the Week of Coordinated Protests for
NO WAR ON VENEZUELA
No Troops in Our Streets!
Nov. 15-23 will be a week of national and international antiwar actions.
Join with local allies to send a strong, united message to Trump, Rubio and Hegseth - there will be a price to pay for their warmongering in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Please join the Planning Meeting this Saturday, November 8
4 pm ET, 3 pm CT, 2 pm MT, 1 pm PT
The Zoom link, with registration required, for our Planning Meeting on Saturday, NOV. 8 at 4pm ET / 1pm PT for the Venezuela Week of Action is:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/CMi0VV1XQEi7XX3cenkvcg . . . .
Gerry Condon, Board of Directors, VETERANS FOR PEACE, 206-499-1220
Act Now: No War with Venezuela!
| Nov 3, 2025, |
Dick: While Trump denies reports that the Pentagon is preparing to strike Venezuela, his actions tell a different, disturbing story.
More than a dozen U.S. airstrikes in waters near Venezuela have already killed at least 64 people.[1] Trump recently ordered the Navy’s “most lethal” warship to the Caribbean, and he even confirmed that he’s authorized covert CIA action in Venezuela.
Actions speak louder than words, and Trump’s warmongering is speaking volumes. The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to decide if and when the United States goes to war. And as Trump pushes us closer to the brink, lawmakers MUST reassert their constitutional authority to keep us from entering a new endless war.
Anti-war champions like Senators Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff are racing to introduce multiple pieces of legislation to avoid a war that puts millions of people at unnecessary risk — including a bipartisan War Powers Resolution that the Senate is expected to vote on in a matter of days. Now, it’s up to us to make sure every elected official feels enough heat from their constituents to pull us back from the brink of war.
Trump might be tempering expectations of a land invasion in the media, but that doesn’t change the fact that his months-long illegal bombing campaign off the Venezuelan coast has brought us to the precipice of a new, wholly unnecessary war. . . .
Thank you for working for peace, |
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The following two reports were forwarded to me by Sonny San Juan, Jr.
“Pentagon Tells Congress It Doesn’t Know Who It’s Killing in Latin American Boat Strikes” by Dave DeCamp (October 30, 2025).
https://news.antiwar.com/2025/10/30/pentagon-tells-congress-it-doesnt-know-who-its-killing-in-latin-american-boat-strikes/?sourceid=1072124&emci=a9e90582-6cb6-f011-8e61-6045bded8ba4&emdi=1a21e873-6eb6-f011-8e61-6045bded8ba4&ceid=2466685
US War Department officials don’t know the identities of the 61 people who have been extra-judicially executed in US military strikes on boats in the waters near Venezuela and in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, POLITICO reported on Thursday, citing House Democrats who attended a classified briefing on the campaign.
“[The department officials] said that they do not need to positively identify individuals on these vessels to do the strikes, they just need to prove a connection to smuggling,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA). “When we tried to get more information, we did not get satisfactory answers.”
While the Trump administration has cited overdose deaths in the US related to fentanyl to justify the bombing campaign, lawmakers were told in the briefing that the boats that have been targeted were allegedly smuggling cocaine, though the Pentagon has not provided evidence to back up its claims about what the vessels were carrying.
“They argued that cocaine is a facilitating drug of fentanyl, but that was not a satisfactory answer for most of us,” Jacobs said.
The briefing on Thursday came after the Pentagon shut out Democrats from another briefing it held with Republicans a day earlier, which left Democratic senators fuming. Democrats who attended Thursday’s briefing said Pentagon lawyers were pulled from the meeting at the last minute.
“Am I leaving satisfied? Absolutely not. And the last word that I gave to the admiral was, ‘I hope you recognize the constitutional peril that you are in and the peril you are putting our troops in,'” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) told reporters after the briefing, according to CNN.
Jacobs said that, based on what she was told, even if Congress authorized the bombing campaign, it would still be illegal. “[T]here’s nothing that we heard in there that changes my assessment that this is completely illegal, that it is unlawful and even if Congress authorized it, it would still be illegal because there are extrajudicial killings where we have no evidence,” she said.
Criticism of the US bombing campaign has also come from Republicans, most prominently from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). “No one said their name, no one said what evidence, no one said whether they’re armed, and we’ve had no evidence presented,” Paul said this week of the people who have been targeted. “They summarily execute people without presenting evidence to the public … so it’s wrong.”
Paul has joined Senate Democrats in introducing a War Powers Resolution aimed at preventing the Trump administration from starting a war with Venezuela amid threats of US strikes on the country aimed at ousting President Nicolas Maduro and a major US military buildup in the region. A vote on the bill is expected to happen next week.
“U.S. poised to strike military targets in Venezuela in escalation against Maduro regime” By Antonio María Delgado. Miami Herald (Updated October 31, 2025),
The Trump Administration has made the decision to attack military installations inside Venezuela and the strikes could come at any moment, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Miami Herald, as the U.S. prepares to initiate the next stage of its campaign against the Soles drug cartel. The planned attacks, also reported by the Wall Street Journal, will seek to destroy military installations used by the drug-trafficking organization the U.S. says is headed by Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and run by top members of his regime. Sources told the Herald that the targets — which could be struck by air in a matter of days or even hours — also aim to decapitate the cartel’s hierarchy. U.S. officials believe the cartel exports around 500 tons of cocaine yearly, split between Europe and the United States. While sources declined to say whether Maduro himself is a target, one of them said his time is running out. “Maduro is about to find himself trapped and might soon discover that he cannot flee the country even if he decided to,” the source said. “What’s worse for him, there is now more than one general willing to capture and hand him over, fully aware that one thing is to talk about death, and another to see it coming.” Read more: War in Venezuela? How a U.S. military attack against Maduro would play out Washington has doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million—the largest such bounty ever offered—and currently offers $25 million rewards for the capture of some of his top lieutenants, including Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who is believed to run cartel operations. Another key regime figure facing U.S. drug-trafficking charges is Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López. The White House moved Friday morning to tamp down reports that U.S. forces are close to taking action inside Venezuelan territory. “Unnamed sources don’t know what they’re talking about. Any announcements regarding Venezuela policy would come directly from the President,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article312722642.html#storylink=cpy
“Facing U.S. Military Aggression, Venezuela Launches Simón Bolívar International Brigades.” Editor. mronline.org (10-31-25).
In response, the Venezuelan government has mobilized the Bolivarian Militia, enlisting 3 million more members to raise the number of this branch of the military to 8 million. Venezuela has also reinforced its borders and launched massive military drills to confront any U.S. attempt to enter its territory.
Originally published: Orinoco Tribune on October 27, 2025 by Orinoco Tribune Staff (more by Orinoco Tribune). (Posted Oct 30, 2025).
Inequality, Movements, State Repression, StrategyAmericas, VenezuelaNewswire
On Friday, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced that Venezuela will form an international volunteer brigade to confront any U.S. intervention or aggression. The statement was made during a meeting of the World Anti-Imperialist Platform. . . . MORE
Gloria Guillo. “Unmasking imperial hypocrisy: Trump’s 2025 Venezuela escalation is a sham for oil.” CovertAction Magazine (Oct. 27, 2025). Editor. mronline.org (10-30-25)
The cycle of blame on Democrats supposed soft policy toward immigration ignores how both parties perpetuate Latin American destabilization for profit.
Empire, Imperialism, State Repression, WarAmericas, United States, VenezuelaNewswire
On October 16, 2025, Donald Trump’s second term ignited a reckless campaign against Venezuela, greenlighting covert CIA operations, deploying 4,000 Marines and F-35 jets to the Caribbean, and launching strikes on Venezuelan vessels that have killed more than 27 people—all framed as a fight against drugs and migration.
This is no noble mission: It is a recycled imperial plot to seize the world’s largest oil reserves, draped in fabricated threats. The U.S. narrative paints Nicolás Maduro as the mastermind of gangs like Tren de Aragua (TdA), but the CIA’s history of enabling criminal networks tells a different story.
Massive disparities in the global economy combined with selective policing contributed to these gangs’ spread, while U.S. banks launder billions in cartel cash, exposing the hypocrisy of Trump’s “security” crusade.
In 2019, Trump hesitated without a solid pretext or figurehead; now, with tailored narratives and a charismatic proxy, he is poised to strike, driven by oil lust and geopolitical games—not justice. . . . MORE
“The militias make Venezuela impregnable.” Padrino Lopez. teleSUR Desk.
Over 6 million citizens are ready to defend the Bolivarian Revolution against any threat.
Originally published: teleSUR English on October 27, 2025 by Padrino Lopez (more by teleSUR English). Empire, Inequality, Movements, WarAmericas, VenezuelaNewswire
On Sunday, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez confirmed that the Bolivarian militias are ready to defend Venezuelan territory against any external threat. “Venezuela has definitely become an impregnable territory. From every physical space, the militiamen, with their missions and assigned weapons, make our nation an impregnable homeland,” he said. . . . MORE
teleSUR is a Latin American multimedia platform oriented to lead and promote the unification of the peoples of the SOUTH*. A space and a voice for the construction of a new communications order.
“Act Now: Your senator voted to greenlight Trump’s warmongering in Latin America.” Win Without War (10-19-25).
Accountability Alert @ Win Without War <info@winwithoutwar.org>
Days ago, Senators Adam Schiff and Tim Kaine forced a vote on a War Powers Resolution (WPR) to block Trump from inciting a war in Latin America amidst multiple illegal strikes that have left more than a dozen dead. 51 senators ultimately acquiesced to Trump’s unjustified strikes by voting against the WPR, even though multiple Republicans broke from their party to rebuke the administration’s violent, destabilizing approach to our neighbors. These senators failed to meet the moment, when leadership on matters of war and peace is desperately needed. But this fight is far from over. Congress will have more opportunities to exert its constitutional war powers in the coming days, especially with a new WPR already in the works in the Senate.
If we want to ensure these senators change course and flip the handful of votes necessary to stop Trump’s warmongering, they need to hear from you. No one wants another war. That’s why we’re sending 51 senators, including Sens. Boozman and Cotton, a message thousands of constituents strong that their vote is out of touch with the people, the anti-war majority.
Thank you for working for peace,
The Win Without War team
1. The New York Times, “Senators Move to Force Vote to Bar Ground Strikes in Venezuela”
“CIA greenlit for regime change in Venezuela.” Just Foreign Policy <info@justforeignpolicy.org> Sat, Oct 18, 2025. Forwarded by Sonny San Juan.
The New York Times confirmed what peace advocates have warned for years: the Trump administration has officially authorized the CIA to carry out covert regime change operations in Venezuela — all without Congressional approval.
This is an unconstitutional escalation of U.S. interference abroad – and it comes just days after six more civilians were killed when U.S. drones struck small boats off Venezuela’s coast. The United States has repeatedly overthrown left-wing and independent governments across Latin America over the course of the past century, with little regard for the instability it causes, or the violation of the democratic rights of the people of the hemisphere.
Installing a new right-wing client regime in Venezuela — after years of intentionally starving their civilian population with indiscriminate economic sanctions — will not make the American people or Venezuelan people safer. It will only embolden the interests and greed of international corporations, the military industrial complex, and war hawks throughout our government, while violating the basic right of Venezuelans to chart their own future free of interference.
We cannot let them win. - Just Foreign Policy
“Senators to force vote to limit US’ actions inside Venezuela.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Oct 18, 2025 . Senators to force vote to limit US’ actions inside Venezuela MEGAN MINEIRO . pat snyder via uark.onmicrosoft.com
Mark Leon Goldberg. “Is the US About to Attempt Regime Change in Venezuela?” Global Dispatches <globaldispatches@substack.com> 10-17-25.
The view from Caracas, with Phil Gunson of the International Crisis Group
Rhetoric and actions from the Trump administration suggest that the United States is seeking to forcibly oust Nicolás Maduro from power in Venezuela. Consider that over the last few days:
· President Trump confirmed a New York Times report that the CIA has been authorized to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
· There has been a big expansion of military exercises by U.S. special forces near the coast of Venezuela, reported today by the The Washington Post
· The U.S. continues to bomb boats alleged to belong to Venezuelan drug smugglers, with Trump suggesting that land strikes might be next.
· Admiral Alvin Holsey, the head of U.S. Southern Command and a 37-year career officer, abruptly announced his upcoming resignation amid speculation that he clashed with Defense Secretary Hegseth over US policy and strategy.
· Democrats are forcing another vote to limit Trump’s war powers in the Caribbean, but a similar one failed last week mostly along partisan lines.
All of this comes amid an unprecedented buildup of American military forces in the region. There are about 10,000 U.S. troops, mostly in Puerto Rico, about 2,200 Marines on amphibious assault ships, at least one submarine and several naval vessels in the region.
Is the U.S. really going to attempt regime change in Venezuela, and what would that even look like? Joining me from Caracas is Phil Gunson, Senior Analyst for the Andes Region at the International Crisis Group. We kick off discussing the mood in Caracas right now amid this increasingly threatening American posture before having a longer conversation about whether the U.S. is indeed seeking regime change, what that might entail, and the profound risks of American intervention in Venezuela.
AAMER MADHANI. “Trump confirms CIA conducting operations in Venezuela.” Information for this article was contributed by Jorge Rueda of The Associated Press. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Oct 17, 2025). pat snyder via uark.onmicrosoft.com
PBS DOCUMENTARY: CHILDREN OF LAS BRISAS. Overview 8.1/10 · IMDb
Three Venezuelan children from the impoverished Las Brisas neighborhood work to become professional musicians within the "El Sistema" music program as their country faces a dire situation.
Director: Marianela Maldonado
Cast: Judith García, Marleny Sequera, Edixon Yánez · See more
Production companies: Mosaic Films, Point du Jour International, Films du Balibari, Les, Invento Films, Brisas Film
Producer: Luisa De La Ville
Screenplay: Marianela Maldonado, Jessica Wenzelmann
Brisas
Premiered January 02, 2023
A Venezuelan youth orchestra tests the power of music amidst poverty and politics.
Watch with PBS Passport 01:22:50 Preview
The Filmmakers
Marianela Maldonado. After graduating from the National Film & Television School in the U.K., Marianela wrote and directed fiction short films and was a screenwriter for animation and fiction projects, among them Peter and the Wolf and The Magic Piano. As a documentarian, she co-wrote Once Upon A Time in Venezuela and directed Children of Las Brisas.
[VFP-all] Stop US Aggression Against Venezuela!
Gerry Condon via uark.onmicrosoft.com 10-13-25
Urgent statement from the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition - a model for all peace-loving people and organizations.
https://www.nicasolidarity.com/newsletter/statement-2025-stop-us-aggression-against-venezuela
HANDS OFF VENEZUELA US Out of Latin America!
Gerry Condon. Board of Directors, Veterans For Peace, 206-499-1220
“Tell your senator: prevent war with Venezuela!” Progressive Caucus Action Fund (PCAF)
Dear James,
In recent weeks, the Trump Administration has conducted four unlawful strikes on ships in the Caribbean, claiming without evidence that the boats carried drugs from Venezuela. These strikes have killed at least 17 people and, coupled with the President’s threats towards Venezuela, risk drawing the U.S. into a needless war in the region.
Congress has not authorized military operations in the Caribbean or Venezuela. This week, lawmakers may have a chance to use their power and act before a conflict escalates.
Call your senator TODAY at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to support War Powers Resolution S.J.Res.83 to end these unlawful strikes in the Caribbean.
There’s no time to waste: last week, the President “determined” that the U.S. is at war with drug cartels, laying the groundwork to justify an unlawful war and perhaps even regime change in Venezuela. But only Congress has the power to declare war. That’s why lawmakers must assert their authority under the Constitution and avoid a senseless war NOW.
Tell your senator: support S.J.Res.83 and prevent a war with Venezuela before it’s too late. - PCAF
Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Here is a suggested call script:
I’m calling to urge Senator John Boozman and Senator Tom Cotton to cosponsor and vote in favor of S.J.Res.83, the War Powers Resolution from Sens. Adam Schiff and Tim Kaine, to put an end to the unlawful, lethal strikes in the Caribbean and avoid a war with Venezuela.
“Protections withdrawn for Venezuelan migrants” (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette), Oct 05, 2025. Protections withdrawn for Venezuelan migrants MARK SHERMAN pat snyder via uark.onmicrosoft.com
“US strikes 4th vessel off Venezuela” (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette), Oct 04, 2025. US strikes 4th vessel off Venezuela . KONSTANTIN TOROPIN AND LISA MASCARO Information for this article was contributed by Regina Garcia Cano of The Associated Press. Hegseth insists boat, 4 killed aboard were trafficking narcotics. Read more... pat snyder via uark.onmicrosoft.com
“Take Action to stop Trump’s illegal attacks on Venezuela.” Defending Rights & Dissent <Updates@rightsanddissent.org>
Thu, Sep 25, 2025
Dick, Trump is unilaterally—and illegally—attempting to drag the U.S. into war with Venezuela. The U.S. military has conducted multiple unprovoked airstrikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea in the last two weeks, killing at least 17 people who have never been charged with a crime. The administration has posthumously declared those killed were “narco-terrorists” or members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, without providing evidence. Even if the claim were true, carrying out drone strikes against the boats is extrajudicial murder, not due process. That’s why Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Deputy Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has introduced a War Powers Resolution (H.Con.Res.51), to reassert Congressional authority and end Trump’s military hostilities against Venezuela. No war on Venezuela! Support Rep. Omar’s resolution now! “Donald Trump cannot be allowed to drag the United States into another endless war with his reckless actions,” said Rep. Greg Casar, Chair of the Progressive Caucus. “It is illegal for the president to take the country to war without consulting the people's representatives, and Congress must vote now to stop Trump from putting us at further risk.” Statements from Trump and administration officials have indicated further military action may be coming, and these strikes are widely perceived as a prelude for attempted regime change in Venezuela. We must put a stop to these hostilities before they escalate into a wider war. . . .
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“So Much for the Nobel Peace Prize” by Ted Snider. Antiwar.com (Sep 16, 2025). 19 Comments
The first seven months of Donald Trump’s second term as president has seen a remarkable transformation. In his inaugural address, Trump said that “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.” He promised to “measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end – and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.” “That’s what I want to be,” Trump said, “a peacemaker.”
Seven months later, Trump changed the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. It is not just a change of name. It is a change of “attitude,” that rebrands the image the Trump administration wants to project to the world. Trump’s executive order says the name change “conveys a stronger message of readiness and resolve compared to ‘Department of Defense,’ which emphasizes only defensive capabilities.” . . . .
But the change of names to the Department of War betrays that campaign. And it is more than just a change of name. The rebrand reflects the ever bloating role of the military in the Trump administration to push out diplomacy and law enforcement. Trump pushed aside diplomacy that was working with Iran with an unprecedented bombing of Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities. And he has pushed aside law enforcement with military action against drug cartels in Latin America.
On September 2, the U.S. claims to have identified a speed boat that was running drugs for a Venezuelan drug cartel. They did not turn to law enforcement, as has, until now, been standard operating procedure by having the National Guard interdict the boat and arrest the suspected drug smugglers. Instead, either an attack helicopter or an MQ-9 Reaper drone fired on it, killing all 11 of its crew. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking for an administration that wants to be a “peacemaker” that is judged by “the wars we never get into,” explained that “What will stop them is when we blow up and get rid of them.”
In order to prevent the flow of drugs into the United States, Trump and his Department of War have sent three Aegis guided-missile destroyers, several P-8 spy planes and at least one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine. Apparently insufficient to deal with the problem, the U.S. has now sent ten F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico to help carry out the operation against the drug cartels.
And CNN is reporting that options that the U.S. are considering include “carrying out military strikes against drug cartels operating in Venezuela, including potentially hitting targets inside the country as part of a broader strategy aimed at weakening leader Nicolas Maduro.” Asked if the U.S. is considering strikes on Venezuelan soil against the cartels and the Maduro government, Rubio replied, “This is a counter-drug operation. We are going to take on drug cartels wherever they are, wherever they are operating against the interests of the US.”
Despite the strong, inconvenient evidence that Venezuela is neither a significant drug producer nor transit point, and that Maduro is not the leader of a Venezuelan drug cartel, as both are alleged by the Trump administration, CNN was told that “The preferred course of action is for Maduro to leave on his own, to read the tea leaves. And then I think the message is ‘Do you want it to be easy or do you want it to be hard?’”
Bunker busters replacing diplomacy in Iran and military strikes and coups replacing law enforcement in Venezuela is not the resume of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. With the change of attitude and policy reflected in the name change from Department of Defense to Department of War, that is surely the end of Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize aspirations.
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Ted Snider is a regular columnist on U.S. foreign policy and history at Antiwar.com and The Libertarian Institute. He is also a frequent contributor to Responsible Statecraft and The American Conservative as well as other outlets. To support his work or for media or virtual presentation requests, contact him at tedsnider@bell.net.
“US military kills 3 in second deadly strike against ‘narcoterrorists’ in international waters, Trump says, without evidence and Rubio refuses to respond” by Haley Britzky. CNN.
This screengrab of a video posted to President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account on September 15, 2025, shows a boat on which Trump said he ordered a military strike. The president said the boat was carrying narcotics from Venezuela. Donald Trump/Truth Social
The US military killed three people in another deadly strike on a vessel in international waters around South America allegedly “transporting illegal narcotics” from Venezuela, President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday. “This morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the US,” Trump said. “These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital US Interests,” he added. “The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this Strike.”
Monday’s announcement comes just under two weeks after the US military killed 11 individuals in a strike allegedly tied to the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. The Trump administration has provided little detail regarding the action. When pushed for answers days after the strike, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to provide any specifics and said the US had “the absolute and complete authority to conduct that.”
The second strike on Monday comes amid rising tensions with Venezuela, as the US has deployed military assets to the region, including the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, and 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said last week that Venezuela is “not betting on conflict” with the US, “nor do we want conflict.”
CNN reported last week that Defense Department officials did not present conclusive evidence that the targets of the first attack were members of Tren de Aragua, and that the briefers could not determine exactly where they were headed. A source also told CNN that the briefers said the boat turned around at one point, which raises more questions about whether it posed an immediate threat. “There is no evidence – none – that this strike was conducted in self-defense,” Sen. Jack Reed, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said last week. “That matters, because under both domestic and international law, the US military simply does not have the authority to use lethal force against a civilian vessel unless acting in self-defense.”
Trump has said the boat was on its way to the US, and Hegseth has insinuated the same, saying if anyone is trafficking drugs and “heading for the United States … that will have lethal consequences.” “We knew exactly who they were, exactly what they were doing, what they represented, and why they were going where they were going,” Hegseth told reporters on September 4 during a visit to Fort Benning, Georgia.
“How did you know?” a reporter asked.
“Why would I tell you that?” Hegseth responded.
Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both signaled that more activity could be coming; Rubio said during a trip to Mexico and Ecuador after the first strike that the US is “going to wage combat against drug cartels that are flooding American streets and killing Americans.” https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/15/politics/trump-strike-international-waters?cid=ios_app
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Donald Trump is launching an unconstitutional war in Venezuela and Congress must act to stop him:
In the last two weeks alone, U.S. warships have launched deadly strikes in international waters, killing at least 14 people aboard Venezuelan vessels. Trump and his war hawk allies like Marco Rubio insist these were “narco-terrorists” – but they’ve provided zero evidence, and longtime regime change warriors like Rubio hope to use any excuse to topple Venezuela’s government and turn it back into a U.S. neo-colony.
Legal experts note that these attacks violate international law. And in Trump’s own words, when asked if he’ll strike mainland Venezuela: “We’ll see what happens.”
Let’s be clear: this is how wars begin. First, an administration invents a justification. Then, they claim unlimited authority to wage war without Congressional approval. Now, with Venezuela scrambling fighter jets and relations on the brink, we are one step away from a catastrophic regional war and a full-on regime change push from Washington.
The Constitution is clear: only Congress has the power to authorize war. Trump’s unilateral attacks are illegal. And if Congress does not intervene, they are complicit in allowing yet another president to shred checks and balances in favor of illegal, endless war.This administration has made it clear that they will advance their agenda unless the people stop them. And once this begins, it will be incredibly difficult to stop.
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Thanks for all you do! In Solidarity, The RootsAction Team Background: |
Congress probes strike on vessel from Venezuela (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette), Sep 13, 2025
pat snyder via uark.onmicrosoft.com |
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Congress probes strike on vessel from Venezuela
LISA MASCARO, AAMER MADHANI, KONSTANTIN TOROPIN AND REGINA GARCIA CANO Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Sep 13, 2025
US action said to come after speedboat reversed its course Read more...
tRUTHOUT ( September 13, 2025)
The US and Latin American right have long mobilized to remove challenges to their traditional privileges and control. Jonathan Ng
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