Venezuela alerts UN to imminent military threat amid US escalation

By Carlos Ron

On Friday, 10 October, Venezuela’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, delivered a serious and urgent warning during an emergency session of the Security Council, asserting that Venezuela’s peace and security – and that of the entire region – is under imminent threat of military aggression by the United States.  

War on drugs pretext

Hostility from Washington towards progressive governments in Caracas is not new, but the current administration has initiated an unprecedented escalation against the government and people of Venezuela.

Under the declared pretext of stepping up the war against drug-trafficking, the US has deployed a significant array of military assets to the Caribbean, including destroyers, missile cruisers, F-35 fighter jets, surveillance planes, an attack submarine, over 4,000 Marines and even a nuclear submarine.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also announced a new task force in the Caribbean, but analysts and former officials have suggested that the primary goal is to pressure the government of Nicolás Maduro and potentially pursue regime change.

The Trump administration has shifted its focus from questioning democratic credentials to accusing Venezuelan leaders of being an international crime organisation involved in drug trafficking.

This narrative shift is significant, as a campaign presented as an extension of the domestic ‘war on drugs’ may garner more support from Trump’s political base than a new foreign military intervention. This focus has led to the revival of baseless criminal allegations to manufacture consent.

By August, US authorities raised to $50m a reward for President Maduro accusing him of leading the so-called Cartel de los Soles, an alleged military-run drug cartel whose very existence has been doubted in the past even by the State Department.

Likewise, an extinct prison gang known as Tren de Aragua, has been used to criminalise both Maduro and Venezuelan migrants.

The US government has used the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport and detain 252 Venezuelans in a high-security prison in El Salvador.

Legal experts have deemed the invocation of this centuries-old, wartime law legally and morally questionable, arguing that applying it to alleged Tren de Aragua members in a non-declared war setting bypasses due process and sets a dangerous precedent.

After negotiations with the Venezuelan government, they were eventually freed, but Venezuelans are still the target of racist and violent immigration policies. Ambassador Moncada denounced the US for continuing to detain 78 Venezuelan children, separated from their parents.

Nobel Prize for regime change

A missing element for a post-regime change transition in Venezuela was an internationally credible figure to assume power. That role is now being filled by extremist opposition figure María Corina Machado.

Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, Machado’s newfound status as a Nobel laureate is helping to reconstruct her international image as a fierce defender of democracy – despite the fact that she participated in the 2002 coup ceremony against President Hugo Chávez and signed the notorious “Carmona Decree” to dissolve all state institutions and the constitution for 48 hours.

For years, Machado headed the NGO Súmate, which faced charges of treason and conspiracy for receiving funding from the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) for its activities, which include the unsuccessful 2004 recall campaign against Chávez.

Under the Maduro administration, Machado consistently advocated for non-recognition of government authority, undermined the electoral system, supported US sanctions on the economy, and promoted violent protests known as ‘guarimbas’ in 2014 and 2017.

As a steadfast ally of Israel, Machado signed a cooperation agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, and wrote to him asking for support in the UN Security Council for a “regime change operation” against the Venezuelan government.

After the 2024 elections where she eventually backed former diplomat Edmundo González and claimed victory, her political movement refused to undergo the electoral audit carried out by the Venezuelan Supreme Court.

As her popularity and leadership dwindled after months of self-imposed clandestinity, the Nobel Prize now serves as a significant boost to her international standing, coinciding with increased US pressure.

From threats to extrajudicial executions

Washington is clearly trying to reaffirm its dominance over Latin America in the light of China’s economic and technological growth. It has lost tolerance for Venezuela’s independent foreign policy, which has strengthened not only its ties with China – both countries subscribed to an ‘All-Weather’ strategic partnership in 2023 – but with Russia, Iran, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and other regional partners.

In Moncada’s appeal to the Security Council, he highlighted the US “addiction to oil” as the true reason it exerts new pressure on Venezuela, which holds the world’s largest proven reserves.

The most disturbing aspect of the escalation has been the recent US military strikes against at least four vessels in the Caribbean, resulting in the deaths of 21 individuals without due process, identification or evidence that they posed an imminent threat.

Even Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro criticised these operations and suggested that some of the alleged traffickers were actually Colombian citizens.

Legal analysis from organisations like the New York City Bar Association suggests these attacks are unlawful summary executions and a clear violation of international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits arbitrary deprivation of life.

By not conforming to standard international practices for drug interdictions, the Trump administration is terrorising the Caribbean and reinforcing the view that it is after regime change in Venezuela, not drugs.

The Trump administration has declared itself as taking part in a “non-international armed conflict”, dismissing legal restraints in the use of military force.

Regime change and wars for oil come at a price. The 20-year occupation of Afghanistan ended in hundreds of thousands of deaths, a panicked retreat and the reestablishment of previous conditions.

Iraq and Libya are a long way from recovering from the destruction of recent wars, while in the US, veterans and their families must deal with increasing poverty, a widespread culture of violence, and a growing mental health crisis.

Fifty years of the war on drugs has not eradicated consumption, but rather consolidated drug trade and distribution in all 50 states.

The US defeat in Vietnam is a reminder that a people determined to be free cannot be subdued. Venezuelans are determined to exercise their sovereignty, guarantee their future, and defend their peace. — BreakThrough News/Globetrotter

Carlos Ron is the co-coordinator of the Nuestra America office of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research. He is a former Venezuelan diplomat who served as vice-minister for North America (2018–25).

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