U.S. military officials are contemplating methods to strike drug traffickers in Venezuela, with attacks on targets possible within weeks, according to NBC News.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email on Friday evening outside normal business hours for comment. The Pentagon deferred to the White House when reached for comment.
Why It Matters
The U.S. military has struck three Venezuelan boats over the past month, with President Donald Trump saying officials had identified them as vehicles for drugs and narco-traffickers and, therefore, legitimate targets in his administration’s war against drug cartels.
Trump has deployed more U.S. forces to the Caribbean to tackle drug trafficking directly and aggressively, escalating overall tensions with Venezuela and raising the risk of direct conflict between the two nations.
The administration has not offered any evidence that drugs were on any of the boats, raising concerns over the legality of the strikes, with Human Rights Watch arguing the blasts amounted to “extrajudicial killings.” The first attack killed 11 people, the second killed three and the death toll from the third remains unknown.
What To Know
NBC cited four anonymous sources familiar with the planning and discussions, which would be another escalation from the Trump administration against the Venezuelan government.
Strikes within Venezuela could occur in the next several weeks, but the president has not approved anything yet, according to the sources. These strikes would likely include drone attacks against those the Trump administration deems trafficking group members and leadership, as well as drug labs.
Trump administration officials have expressed frustration that the strikes have prompted little response from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro or his government, and has instead faced pushback domestically on the strikes, which has forced officials to more carefully consider further steps.
Maduro and his government have previously denied any involvement in drug trafficking while repeatedly claiming the U.S. government is trying to force him out of power.
The Venezuelan president has offered to engage in direct talks with the White House following the strikes, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.
In the letter, Maduro asked that Trump work with him to “defeat the falsehoods that have sullied our relationship, which must be historic and peaceful. These and other issues will always be open for a direct and frank conversation with your special envoy to overcome media noise and fake news,” referring to envoy Richard Grenell, whom he credited with helping clarify allegations that Venezuela had not accepted deported migrants.
“To date, this channel has functioned flawlessly,” Maduro wrote. The letter was dated September 6, just days after the first strike on a Venezuelan boat.
What People Are Saying
Trump, last week wrote on Truth Social: “We want Venezuela to immediately accept all of the prisoners, and people from mental institutions, which includes the Worst in the World Insane Asylums, that Venezuelan “Leadership” has forced into the United States of America. Thousands of people have been badly hurt, and even killed, by these “Monsters.” GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT NOW, OR THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE INCALCULABLE!”
Former Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth earlier this month wrote on X: “Just because Trump orders a second round of murders of drug suspects in the Caribbean doesn’t make it any more legal than the first round. These are summary executions, not acts in a (concocted) “war.”