We send our prayers to those in the Caribbean affected by Hurricane Melissa, particularly Ayiti, Jamaica and Domincan Republic that have suffered fatalities with a total death toll currently measuring sixty-one. (1) However, another storm, this time political, has been brewing in the region since September (in its latest iteration) that has taken almost as many lives apparent contravention both USA domestic and international law. (2)
Back in Mosiah (August) the USA doubled a reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to $50m accusing him of being “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world.” They accused him of coordinating with groups like Tren de Aragua – a Venezuelan gang that the Trump administration has amplified as a terrorist organisation within the USA. They also point to evidence like that of Hugo Carvajal, formerly the head of Venezuela’s military intelligence, who was convicted of several drug trafficking charges after being arrested in Madrid and put on trial in the US after fleeing Venezuela when he called on the army to back an opposition candidate and overthrow Maduro. (3) The following month they began a campaign of bombing of several alleged drug carrying vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, in spite of offering no evidence to back up the claim.
But analysts point to the fact that Maduro has been delivering big blows to the gang for the past year and a half through a series of raids and working with partners in Colombia to arrest several top leaders. Moreover, according to the latest UN World Drug Report, Venezuela is neither a major drug producer nor a key trafficking corridor to the US. According to an investigation by New Yorker magazine, one of the world’s largest and most violent cocaine cartels, the Kinahan Organized Crime Group, is run out of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. This is the gulf nation that is powering Trump’s “moneymaking machine” having netted him millions of dollars already with yet more on the horizon. (4)
Veteran journalist Greg Palast has identified three reasons why the Trump regime is targeting Venezuela.
1. Venezuela has the largest reserves of oil on the planet.
2. Venezuela has the largest reserves of oil on the planet.
3. Venezuela has the largest reserves of oil on the planet. (5)With oil reserves four times that of Saudi Arabia Palast characterises the current actions as “at least the fourth US-backed attempt at overthrow and assassination of a Venezuelan president.” When referring to the last attempt in his first term Trump complained “When I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse. We would have taken it over; we would have gotten to all that oil; it would have been right next door.” The bombings are one of a series of measures used to destablise the Bolivarian state along with swingeing sanctions that have left the economy on it’s “deathbed.” (6)
The stated motive for the latest round of assaults is further undermined by Trump officials acknowledging they don’t know the identities of the people they’re killing and can’t meet the evidentiary burden to prosecute survivors. (7) This follows claims by Venezuela that they have “foiled a CIA-financed cell plotting a false-flag attack on an American warship, in a cynical ploy to spark a full military confrontation.” (8)
Another line attack is the USA successfully lobbying for the anti-Venezuela, pro-genocide, far-right coup-plotter and Trump stooge María Corina Machado for the Nobel Peace Prize. Discredited as it is, with it’s history of war criminal recipients, the prize still carries weight in the public perception. (9)
The current situation is also causing fissures among Caribbean nations, with Trinidad and Tobago whose Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been a vocal supporter of the US military build-up in the Caribbean and the deadly strikes on alleged drug boats, despite two Trinidadians being among the victims of the October 14 attack that killed six. (10) This has put her at odds with not only with her own fishermen who “fear for their lives and jobs” after US strikes but also her CARICOM neighbours that she has accused of being “unreliable partners” and siding with Venezuela. While there is evidence of ideological alignment with Trump, Trinidad’s approach could be seen as self-preservation, if not appeasement. (11)
The irony here is that there can be no more unreliable partner than the petulant and capricious Trump who after browbeating his country with impunity at home seeks to apply it abroad was well. (12) This includes threatening sanctions against several Caribbean countries trying to pursue favourable economic and evnironmental policies. (13)
So although Venezuela is the clear target, there is already collateral damage to other countries in the region with no guarantee that it will not escalate further.
(1) Aleks Phillips (02/11/25) Hurricane Melissa death toll rises to 28 in Jamaica. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1e34p92q0vo
(2) Andreína Chávez Alava (28/02/25) Death Toll Hits 57, Latest US Bombings on Small Boats Strike off Mexico’s Coast. https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/death-toll-hits-57-latest-us-bombings-on-small-boats-strike-off-mexicos-coast/; Nick Turse (31/10/25) Trump Administration Admits It Doesn’t Know Who Exactly It’s Killing in Boat Strikes. https://theintercept.com/2025/10/31/trump-venezuela-boat-strikes-unprivileged-belligerants/; Luis F. Carrasco (26/10/25) We’re executing people with impunity. Why are so many of us OK with this? https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/boat-strikes-killings-drugs-cartels-venezuela-trump-20251026.html
(3) Sean Seddon (08/08/25) US offers $50m reward for arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy1wn1x521o; Chávez Alava. Op. cit.
(4) Mike LaSusa (07/04/25) Debunking 3 Myths About Tren de Aragua. https://insightcrime.org/news/debunking-3-myths-about-tren-aragua-us/; Greg Palast (24/10/25) I met Chávez and Maduro. I know drugs are not the reason Trump wants war with Venezuela. https://www.gregpalast.com/venezuela-when-i-met-with-chavez-and-maduro/; Dan Alexander (28/10/25) This Gulf Nation Is Powering Trump’s Moneymaking Machine. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2025/10/27/this-gulf-nation-is-powering-trumps-moneymaking-machine/
(5) Palast. Op. cit.
(6) Ben Norton (12/06/23) Trump boasts he wanted to take Venezuela’s oil after overthrowing its government. https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/06/12/trump-venezuela-oil-coup/; Ibid.
(7) Turse. Op. cit.
(8) James C. Reynolds (28/12/25) Venezuela claims to have captured ‘CIA backed cell plotting false flag attack’ as tensions with US grow. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-maduro-cia-false-flag-gravely-trinidad-b2853501.html
(9) Ben Norton (13/10/25) Nobel Peace Prize winner supports Israel’s genocide & Trump’s war on Venezuela. https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/10/13/maria-corina-machado-israel-genocide-trump-war-venezuela/ Atilio Boron (17/10/25) The Death of the Nobel Peace Prize. https://www.telesurenglish.net/opinion/the-death-of-the-nobel-peace-prize/
(10) Chávez Alava. Op. cit.
(11) Anselm Gibbs (06/10/25) Fishermen in Trinidad and Tobago fear for their lives and jobs after US strikes in the Caribbean. https://www.clickorlando.com/news/world/2025/10/06/fishermen-in-trinidad-and-tobago-fear-for-their-lives-and-jobs-after-us-strikes-in-the-caribbean/?ref=%2Ftopic%2FDrugs%2F; Roger https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-news-today-shutdown-live-b2855904.htmlJacob (28/10/25); Trinidad and Tobago Newsday (20/01/25) Kamla hails Trump, bashes ‘woke’ Biden administration. https://newsday.co.tt/2025/01/20/kamla-hails-trump-bashes-woke-biden-administration/
(12) Jackie Calmes (23/10/25) ‘Trump is in his Louis XIV era, and it’s not a good look. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-10-23/trump-caribbean-civilian-killings-east-wing-white-house; Ariana Baio, Joe Sommerlad (31/10/25) Trump updates: President shuts down hope of trade talks with Canada after Reagan ad. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-news-today-shutdown-live-b2855904.html
(13) Michael Roberts (15/03/25) Caribbean in Crosshairs: Trump’s sanction threat sparks economic uncertainty. https://www.thenewtodaygrenada.com/commentary/caribbean-in-crosshairs-trumps-sanction-threat-sparks-economic-uncertainty/; The Gleaner (13/10/25) US warns of sanctions against Caribbean countries that vote for IMO’s net zero- shipping framework. https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20251013/us-warns-sanctions-against-caribbean-countries-vote-imos-net-zero-shipping
we ask the question:
Why is USA Bombing the Caribbean?
1) Does the drug bust of Venezuela’s former military intelligence chief implicate the government?
2) Is really just about oil?
3) Is Trinidad & Tobago’s approach to Trump the right one or could things escalate?
4) Can Venezuela survive this onslaught and what does it say about the current status of “international law”?
Our Special Guests:
Marcos Garcia: currently works at the Venezuelan Embassy in Brussels. He was previously First Secretary at the Venezuelan Embassy in London.
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