The space between symbolic shows of force and outright military action narrowed further this week as the United States again ramped up its threats against Venezuela and its leader Nicolas Maduro. The Trump administration’s rhetoric was its most direct yet, its legal justifications weakest, and its warplanes flew closer to Venezuelan territory than ever. To top it off, prominent opposition figure Maria Corina Machado invoked her recent Nobel Peace Prize to push for intervention.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced its fifth strike on alleged “drug-trafficking” boats in the southern Caribbean, killing six people and bringing the total deaths in its reinvigorated “War on Drugs” to 27. Following a familiar script, Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted grainy videos of the attack, defended its legality, and made vague references to “narcoterrorists.” But unlike in previous strikes, the administration made no mention of the nationality of those killed or the criminal group to which they allegedly belonged. The burden of proof has fallen even further.
The next day, Trump acknowledged publicly that he had authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela, effectively granting the agency authority to carry out lethal actions inside the country. He justified the move by claiming, without evidence, that Venezuela had “emptied their prisons” and “mental asylums" into the United States—a racist accusation that echoed Cold War-era tropes—and failed to tamp down on the drug trade. When asked if this authorization extended to assassinating Maduro, Trump replied that “he did not want to answer a question like that.”
During the same press conference, Trump said that the U.S. was considering land strikes against alleged drug cartels now that drug trafficking by sea had “almost totally stopped.” As he spoke, three U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers were on their way to the air space just off Venezuela’s coast. While the planes remained in international airspace, they entered Venezuela’s Maiquetía Flight Information Region during their two-hour orbit,a move widely viewed as a provocation. The United States has also reportedly been conducting helicopter drills less than 90 miles from the Venezuelan coast.
In response, President Nicolas Maduro ordered a new round of military exercises on Wednesday and said he was mobilizing the military, police, and civilian militias to “win the peace.” Armored vehicles were deployed to neighborhoods in Caracas and military exercises took place in neighboring departments.
As U.S. threats ramped up, Machado amplified calls for intervention. Fresh from her Nobel Prize win, she spent the week praising Trump and seeking to rally more U.S. support for Maduro’s removal. In an interview with CNN, Machado labelled the Maduro government a “criminal narco-terrorism structure;” accused it of trafficking drugs, arms, and people; and called for Trump’s help in ending Maduro’s “war” on the Venezuelan people. Meanwhile, a video of Machado’s February interview with Donald Trump Jr. went viral. In the video, she brags of Venezuela’s vast oil deposits, vows to privatize national industries, and promises that U.S. companies will “make a lot of money.”
Read more about Maria Corina Machado—and the media’s special treatment of her—in Steve Ellner’s July 2024 article for NACLA.
Rom’s book is an archivally rich account of how Jewish individuals and institutions grappled with rapidly shifting politics—and state violence—before, during, and after the Cold War.
Inspired by a global wave of protest, Peru's youth protesters have turned social media outrage into mass mobilization against corruption and repression.
IMAGE OF THE WEEK
On September 27, protesters formed a human slingshot amid clashes with the police near Plaza San Martín in Lima, Peru. Read more in Lucero Chávez's article in NACLA. (Stifs Paucca Suárez)
AROUND THE REGION
PERU’S NEW PRESIDENT—Shortly after assuming the presidency last week, José Jerí led a series of prison raids and declared a “war on crime,” seeking to project strength to Peruvians fed up with public insecurity. Though largely symbolic, the move by the 38-year-old former leader of Congress was a shrewd bet given that the country’s surge in violence was central to the downfall of Dina Boluarte, the former president who was impeached last Friday. Jerí, Peru’s seventh president in nine years, is a largely unknown figure with a shady past. He has been credibly accused of sexual assault, corruption, and illicit enrichment linked to his tenure as chairman of a key budget committee. While he denies the allegations, analysts say his rise to power is not likely to disrupt Peru’s entrenched inequality or pervasive impunity. For that reason, the same protesters who helped bring down Boluarte have vowed to keep up the fight. On Wednesday, thousands of Peruvians took to the streets to protest Jerí’s presidency. Read more about Boluarte’s fall in Lucero Chávez’s article for NACLA.
ECUADOR’S CRACKDOWN—Brutal clashes erupted Tuesday between protesters and Ecuadorian Armed Forces in the northern city of Otavalo, a stronghold of Indigenous resistance that has led the national paro since it began more than three weeks ago. The clashes began after hundreds of community members rushed to reinforce a strategic blockade threatened by military forces claiming to be part of a “humanitarian convoy” delivering food to affected areas. The government initially falsely claimed that the aid was being delivered alongside neutral organizations like the Red Cross—a key demand of protesters—but soon unleashed hours of intense repression. The powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) accused the government of turning Indigenous communities into “war zones,” an accusation underscored by the deployment of 5,000 additional troops to the region to break the roadblock. Meanwhile, a series of deadly car bombings across the country, beginning Tuesday in Guayaquil, further exposed President Daniel Noboa’s inability to contain Ecuador's deepening political and security crisis.
CONDITIONAL ARGENTINE AID—During a Tuesday visit to the White House, Argentina’s far-right President Javier Milei received a blunt message from Donald Trump: a proposed $20 billion bailout for the country would only be approved if Milei’s party secures a victory in upcoming congressional elections. “If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina,” Trump said—an unusually explicit admission that tied U.S. aid to electoral outcomes. The statement sent Argentine markets tumbling and quickly became a political liability for Milei, whose administration faced accusations that it was being extorted by Washington. The controversy echoed Trump’s earlier attempts to shield former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro from prosecution, a move that stirred up nationalist sentiment and ultimately benefitted President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva. Milei hopes his party can retain enough seats to protect his radical agenda from congressional vetoes, which are becoming increasingly frequent. Yet his credibility continues to erode amid corruption scandals and a struggling economy.
GUATEMALA’S PRISONS—Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo announced Wednesday that the United States will support his plan to overhaul the country’s penitentiary system, an initiative that came days after news of a major prison break was revealed. On Sunday, authorities announced that 20 members of the Barrio 18 gang—designated as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration in late September—had escaped, setting off a nationwide manhunt and the dismissal of several senior officials. In response, Arévalo announced a reform plan that includes a new inmate tracking system and the construction of a maximum security facility. The center-left president’s praise of U.S. assistance in the “fight against organized crime” marks another instance of surprising cooperation with the Trump administration. Indeed, Arévalo has already agreed to receive third-country nationals deported from the United States and strengthened bilateral security ties. His framing of gangs as a national security threat, though more measured, echoes the playbook of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
