It is looking like the United States is heavily preparing for another war on drugs, but this time the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program is not the primary weapon being touted to fight the battles. At the beginning of September, the Trump administration filed a report saying that they had successfully carried out a strike against a drug-carrying vessel they alleged to belong to the Venezuela-based narcoterrorist group, Tren De Aragua. 

As of Nov. 18, the Pentagon has carried out 21 such strikes on boats, killing 83 people and wounding 2, all without providing public evidence or getting judicial approval to back their actions. Many of these attacks have been carried out in international waters, and international legal experts have condemned the U.S.’ actions for being illegal. Venezuelan fishing boats are scared that they could get obliterated by the U.S. given that the administration doesn’t seem too concerned about who they are actually attacking.

There were a number of important updates during the second week of November that shed some light on the ever-rising political tensions between the United States and Venezuela, though one of the bigger updates came as an announcement from U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. During the latter half of the week, Hegseth announced on X that the Department of War is delivering on a request for action made by President Trump through “Operation Southern Spear.” He said that “this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people.” While fighting narcoterrorism is an attractive framing for many Americans, there are other chapters to this story.

Nicolás Maduro has been Venezuela’s sitting president since 2013, when the former leader passed away from health complications. After his 30-day stint as interim president, Maduro proceeded to win the next three elections held in 2013, 2018, and 2024, with the latter two raising countless concerns with regards to legitimacy. His most recent win has guaranteed him power until early 2031, and human rights organizations and a number of the major democratic global powers have called Maduro a dictator. 

Zooming out, what we are seeing here is a clear continuation of tensions between Russia and the United States from the late 20th century. Maduro has been vocal about opposing US policies and has continued to be friendly with more socialist-leaning countries such as Russia, China, and Cuba. This has outraged the U.S.’ democratic allies around the world. The United States, the European Union, and ten Latin American nations have all vocally condemned Maduro’s affiliations and have called for him to step down immediately. In August of this year, the Trump administration put up a 50 million dollar bounty for Maduro’s arrest as a way to test the president’s inner circle of supporters, though according to experts, that number is not by any means high enough to flip any of Venezuela’s elites. 

Centering back on the current escalation, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One the day after Hegseth’s X announcement that he has already made his mind up as to whether or not to launch a larger-scale attack against Venezuela. He said, “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.” Two days later, on Nov. 16, major news outlets reported that the USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, had reached the Caribbean after being called away from its previous post in the Mediterranean. Additionally, late Nov. 18, the New York Times reported that Trump is said to have authorized the CIA to officially carry out covert operations in Venezuela, likely setting the scene for a broader military campaign should the Maduro administration not cooperate.

All of these factors, including the boat strikes, the heightened military presence in the Caribbean, the authorization of CIA mission plans, and comments made by Hegseth and Trump, all point to a possible large-scale action against Venezuela in the near future. Maduro has warned Trump against taking such measures, but it appears the Trump administration is set on at the very least ousting Maduro from power for his anti-democratic policies. Taking into consideration the U.S.’ history of political interventions and the ensuing periods of colonization, is this the best move for the Trump administration to make?

If these rising tensions were in response to the alleged human rights abuses the Maduro administration has committed over the course of its 12-year tenure, then I think a globally sponsored intervention would be more justifiable. However, this isn’t about the people of Venezuela; this is about the interests of the United States and how we want to control the world around us.