This article originally appeared in the Dispatch on September 3rd, 2025.
Tuesday’s strike by the U.S. military on a vessel allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela is the latest in a series of moves designed to ratchet up pressure on Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.
In the past month, the U.S. has designated Maduro as head of the narco-terrorist group Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), raised the bounty for his capture to $50 million, and deployed thousands of U.S. Navy troops to the region. In a statement released after the strike, President Donald Trump claimed the boat was being operated by Tren de Aragua, a criminal group it says operates in conjunction with Cartel de los Soles and is effectively controlled by Maduro. Other notable Venezuela hawks, like Rep. Carlos Giménez of Florida, have claimed to have confirmation that the boat was being operated by Cartel de los Soles.
For his part, Maduro has responded by purportedly mobilizing 4.5 million civilian militia members and threatening to declare a “republic in arms” to retaliate if the U.S. launches strikes on Venezuela. Maduro’s forces also have fired on Guyanese elections officials delivering ballots to the disputed and oil-rich Essequibo territory that separates the two countries.
Despite the significance of a kinetic strike by the U.S. on what could turn out to be a Venezuelan-backed ship, a full-scale invasion remains unlikely given the full context of American positioning toward Venezuela under the second Trump administration.
