With eye on US threat, Venezuela holds Caribbean military exercises
By AFP
September 17, 2025
This screen grab from a video posted by US President Donald Trump shows what he said was a US military strike on drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea - Copyright US President Donald Trump's TRUTH Social account/AFP HANDOUT
Venezuela said Wednesday it had begun three days of military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila as tensions soar amid US military activity in the region.
Forces deployed for what Washington called an anti-drug operation have blown up at least two Venezuelan boats and a combined 14 people allegedly transporting drugs across the Caribbean this month — a move slammed as “extrajudicial execution” by UN experts.
The strikes and a deployment of US warships in the region have raised fears of an invasion in Venezuela, whose President Nicolas Maduro Washington accuses of being a cartel leader. The exercise ordered by Maduro as commander-in-chief was baptized “Sovereign Caribbean,” Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said Wednesday.
“There will be air defense deployments with armed drones, surveillance drones, submarine drones… We are going to implement electronic warfare actions,” he added, citing the “threatening, vulgar voice” of the United States.
Public television showed images of amphibious vessels and warships deployed off La Orchila, where Venezuela has a military base.
The armed forces said the exercises will involve 12 ships, 22 aircraft and 20 small boats from the “Special Naval Militia.”
La Orchila island is close to the area where the United States intercepted and held a Venezuelan fishing vessel for eight hours over the weekend.
Maduro, whose last two elections the US and many other countries did not recognize, has vowed Caracas would defend itself against what he labeled US “aggression” against his country.
Washington is offering a $50 million bounty for the arrest of Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges.
– ‘Who saw the drugs?’ –
Venezuela has urged an investigation of a US strike on an alleged drug boat early this month that killed 11 people.
It was one of three Venezuelan vessels US President Donald Trump said his country had “knocked off” without providing details.
“One doesn’t know, because they say it carried drugs, but who saw the drugs?” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said earlier Wednesday as he claimed Venezuela is cracking down on narcotics.
Cabello told reporters that officials have seized over 60 tonnes (about 66 US tons) of drugs so far this year.
“It is the largest amount that has been seized since 2010,” said Cabello, who like Maduro and other senior officials is under US sanctions.
Trump has justified taking military action by saying “violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to US National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital US Interests.”
The US government has released videos of two of the boat strikes and claims it has irrefutable evidence the people killed were US-bound traffickers.
It has not provided details to back up those claims. Drug trafficking is not a capital offense under US law.
Caracas has consistently denied being a trafficking hub.
By AFP
September 17, 2025
This screen grab from a video posted by US President Donald Trump shows what he said was a US military strike on drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea - Copyright US President Donald Trump's TRUTH Social account/AFP HANDOUT
Venezuela said Wednesday it had begun three days of military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila as tensions soar amid US military activity in the region.
Forces deployed for what Washington called an anti-drug operation have blown up at least two Venezuelan boats and a combined 14 people allegedly transporting drugs across the Caribbean this month — a move slammed as “extrajudicial execution” by UN experts.
The strikes and a deployment of US warships in the region have raised fears of an invasion in Venezuela, whose President Nicolas Maduro Washington accuses of being a cartel leader. The exercise ordered by Maduro as commander-in-chief was baptized “Sovereign Caribbean,” Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said Wednesday.
“There will be air defense deployments with armed drones, surveillance drones, submarine drones… We are going to implement electronic warfare actions,” he added, citing the “threatening, vulgar voice” of the United States.
Public television showed images of amphibious vessels and warships deployed off La Orchila, where Venezuela has a military base.
The armed forces said the exercises will involve 12 ships, 22 aircraft and 20 small boats from the “Special Naval Militia.”
La Orchila island is close to the area where the United States intercepted and held a Venezuelan fishing vessel for eight hours over the weekend.
Maduro, whose last two elections the US and many other countries did not recognize, has vowed Caracas would defend itself against what he labeled US “aggression” against his country.
Washington is offering a $50 million bounty for the arrest of Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges.
– ‘Who saw the drugs?’ –
Venezuela has urged an investigation of a US strike on an alleged drug boat early this month that killed 11 people.
It was one of three Venezuelan vessels US President Donald Trump said his country had “knocked off” without providing details.
“One doesn’t know, because they say it carried drugs, but who saw the drugs?” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said earlier Wednesday as he claimed Venezuela is cracking down on narcotics.
Cabello told reporters that officials have seized over 60 tonnes (about 66 US tons) of drugs so far this year.
“It is the largest amount that has been seized since 2010,” said Cabello, who like Maduro and other senior officials is under US sanctions.
Trump has justified taking military action by saying “violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to US National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital US Interests.”
The US government has released videos of two of the boat strikes and claims it has irrefutable evidence the people killed were US-bound traffickers.
It has not provided details to back up those claims. Drug trafficking is not a capital offense under US law.
Caracas has consistently denied being a trafficking hub.
Critics noted his remark seems to further the notion that the US is targeting civilians.
By Sharon Zhang ,
September 18, 2025
Vice President JD Vance salutes as he steps off Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland upon his return from Howell, Michigan, on September 17, 2025.JESSICA KOSCIELNIAK / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
Vice President JD Vance is being criticized for making light of the U.S. strikes that killed at least 14 people on boats in the Caribbean as backlash grows over the bombings, which experts said targeted civilians.
At a rally on Wednesday, Vance bragged about the supposed success of the strikes, which Venezuelan officials have said are designed to stoke war with the country.
“I was talking to Secretary [of Defense Pete] Hegseth, and you know what he said? ‘You know what Mr. Vice President, we don’t see any of these drug boats coming into our country, they’ve completely stopped,’” Vance said.
“And I said, ‘I know why. I would stop too — hell, I wouldn’t go fishing right now in that area of the world,’” he went on, laughing.
Vance’s joke was criticized for its callous nature, with critics saying that the joke appears to admit that the U.S. would target civilians.
“Get it? The joke is that we might kill some totally innocent people! Haha that’s funny, right?” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow for the American Immigration Council.
A group of UN experts condemned the strikes as “extrajudicial execution” in a statement on Tuesday, saying that the military action “violates the right to life.”
“International law does not allow governments to simply murder alleged drug traffickers,” the group said. “Under international law, all countries must respect the right to life, including when acting on the high seas or in foreign territory. The use of potentially lethal force is only permitted in personal self-defence or defence of others against an imminent threat to life.”
Vance has said he is totally uninterested in following international law when conducting such bombings. Last week, in response to criticism that the U.S.’s initial strike on a vessel in the Caribbean was a war crime, the vice president said: “I don’t give a shit what you call it.”
President Donald Trump said on Monday that the military killed three people in a strike on another boat that he claimed to be from Venezuela. This follows another strike on a boat in the Caribbean that killed 11 earlier this month, which has already been widely condemned as a war crime. Venezuela said that the U.S. also seized and detained a fishing boat in Venezuelan waters on Friday.
Trump has claimed that both strikes were carried out in self-defense, claiming that he is protecting Americans from the drug trade — a novel legal argument from his administration that experts say has no precedent or legal backing.
Rather, senators have said that the Pentagon has zero evidence backing the idea that the strikes are done in self-defense, and has not provided any even when pressed by Congress. In a letter last week, 20 Democrats sent a letter noting that the administration has not offered “any legitimate legal justification for the strike, or any evidence to support its claims regarding the basis for this strike or the future strikes it has openly threatened to launch.”
Meanwhile, The Intercept’s Nick Turse has reported that lawmakers, experts, and even a Pentagon official have said that the initial strike was carried out in violation of international law. Further, The Intercept reported that the administration is “thwarting congressional oversight” of the military actions and last week barred senior House leadership staffers from attending a briefing on the attack.
Vice President JD Vance is being criticized for making light of the U.S. strikes that killed at least 14 people on boats in the Caribbean as backlash grows over the bombings, which experts said targeted civilians.
At a rally on Wednesday, Vance bragged about the supposed success of the strikes, which Venezuelan officials have said are designed to stoke war with the country.
“I was talking to Secretary [of Defense Pete] Hegseth, and you know what he said? ‘You know what Mr. Vice President, we don’t see any of these drug boats coming into our country, they’ve completely stopped,’” Vance said.
“And I said, ‘I know why. I would stop too — hell, I wouldn’t go fishing right now in that area of the world,’” he went on, laughing.
Vance’s joke was criticized for its callous nature, with critics saying that the joke appears to admit that the U.S. would target civilians.
“Get it? The joke is that we might kill some totally innocent people! Haha that’s funny, right?” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow for the American Immigration Council.
A group of UN experts condemned the strikes as “extrajudicial execution” in a statement on Tuesday, saying that the military action “violates the right to life.”
“International law does not allow governments to simply murder alleged drug traffickers,” the group said. “Under international law, all countries must respect the right to life, including when acting on the high seas or in foreign territory. The use of potentially lethal force is only permitted in personal self-defence or defence of others against an imminent threat to life.”
Vance has said he is totally uninterested in following international law when conducting such bombings. Last week, in response to criticism that the U.S.’s initial strike on a vessel in the Caribbean was a war crime, the vice president said: “I don’t give a shit what you call it.”
President Donald Trump said on Monday that the military killed three people in a strike on another boat that he claimed to be from Venezuela. This follows another strike on a boat in the Caribbean that killed 11 earlier this month, which has already been widely condemned as a war crime. Venezuela said that the U.S. also seized and detained a fishing boat in Venezuelan waters on Friday.
Trump has claimed that both strikes were carried out in self-defense, claiming that he is protecting Americans from the drug trade — a novel legal argument from his administration that experts say has no precedent or legal backing.
Rather, senators have said that the Pentagon has zero evidence backing the idea that the strikes are done in self-defense, and has not provided any even when pressed by Congress. In a letter last week, 20 Democrats sent a letter noting that the administration has not offered “any legitimate legal justification for the strike, or any evidence to support its claims regarding the basis for this strike or the future strikes it has openly threatened to launch.”
Meanwhile, The Intercept’s Nick Turse has reported that lawmakers, experts, and even a Pentagon official have said that the initial strike was carried out in violation of international law. Further, The Intercept reported that the administration is “thwarting congressional oversight” of the military actions and last week barred senior House leadership staffers from attending a briefing on the attack.
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