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U.S. Weighs Strikes Inside Venezuela as Caribbean Campaign Faces Intensifying Scrutiny

Plans for potential strikes on Venezuelan soil mark a new escalation that is already drawing legal and regional backlash.

President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela gives a speech during the commemoration of the 71st Anniversary of the birth of late former President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez at the Miraflores Palace on July 28, 2025 in Caracas, Venezuela.
Armored vehicles drive through a street during a government-organized march in support of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jesus Vargas)
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FILE - Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez speaks during military exercises in Caracas, Venezuela, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

Overview

  • U.S. officials are drafting options for drone strikes against drug targets inside Venezuela that could be executed within weeks, though the president has not approved any operation, NBC News reported.
  • The military has already carried out at least three lethal strikes on suspected smuggling boats, killing more than a dozen people, with Dominican authorities saying cocaine was recovered after one strike.
  • The United States has massed significant forces in the region, including eight Navy ships with thousands of personnel, a submarine and F-35 fighter jets deployed to Puerto Rico.
  • Members of Congress have introduced War Powers measures as UN experts and rights groups denounce the killings as extrajudicial, intensifying demands for legal justification and public evidence.
  • Venezuela’s government condemned the U.S. posture at the UN and Colombia’s president called for criminal proceedings, as NBC also reported quiet U.S.-Venezuela contacts through Middle Eastern intermediaries.