(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) The US is deploying three Navy destroyers off the coast of Venezuela in a move aimed at pressuring President Nicolas Maduro, signaling what appears to be another push for regime change.
One US official told Reuters that a total of 4,000 US sailors and Marines are expected to be committed to the Trump administration’s efforts in the southern Caribbean region.
US officials say the deployment is an effort to “combat threats from Latin American drug cartels,” as the US has made the unsubstantiated claim that Maduro is the leader of a cartel. The accusation goes back to the first Trump administration, when then-Attorney General Bill Barr indicted the Venezuelan leader over claims of “narco-terrorism.” The claim was made over alleged cocaine trafficking, even though data showed at the time that the vast majority of cocaine coming into the US went through the Eastern Pacific, rather than Venezuela’s Caribbean waters.
White House Press Secretary Karolin Leavitt was asked on Tuesday about the deployments near Venezuela and if the US was considering putting “boots on the ground” in the country.
Leavitt replied, “President Trump has been very clear and consistent; he is prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country, and to bring those responsible to justice. The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela. It is a narco-terror cartel, and Maduro, it is the view of this administration, is not a legitimate president. He is a fugitive head of this cartel, he has been indicted in the United States for trafficking drugs into the country.”
The Trump administration has taken other steps that signal another attempt at regime change in Venezuela, including increasing the bounty on Maduro from $25 million to $50 million and labeling cartels “Specially Designated Global Terrorists,” including Cartel de los Soles, a term used to describe an alleged network of Venezuelan officials involved in drug trafficking that doesn’t actually exist as an organization.
The US designated the so-called Cartel de los Soles over claims that it supports the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TDA) and Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. However, a recently declassified US intelligence memo said it was unlikely that Maduro’s government cooperates with or directs TDA, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has denied that there’s any evidence linking Maduro to Sinaloa.
The memo from the Office of the Director of Intelligence, dated April 7, 2025, said that while some members of the Venezuelan government may tolerate or cooperate with TDA, Maduro and his top officials view the group as a threat. “The Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States,” the memo states.
Earlier this month, Sheinbaum told reporters that the US announcement about Maduro’s alleged ties to Sinaola was the first she heard about it. “On Mexico’s part, there is no investigation that has to do with that,” she said. “As we always say, if they have some evidence, show it. We do not have any proof.”
Maduro said on Monday that in response to threats from the Trump administration, he will deploy millions of members of a pro-government militia across the country. “This week, I will activate a special plan with more than 4.5 million militiamen to ensure coverage of the entire national territory — militias that are prepared, activated, and armed,” he said.
While the Trump administration has taken steps to add pressure on Maduro, it also recently reversed a ban on Chevron pumping oil in Venezuela, and Venezuelan oil is now on its way to the US.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
