Tag: venezuela

Is Venezuela the Next Target of the US Empire?

President Donald Trump has deployed several warships and thousands of Marines to the southern Caribbean – just miles off the coast of Venezuela. The provocative mission was launched under the guise of an anti-narcotics crusade, but risks disastrous outcomes for both countries.

While a war with Venezuela might seem unlikely, the move is sure to radically escalate tensions with the Latin American state, and in the worst-case scenario could become a trip-wire for direct conflict with Caracas.

According to a recent New York Times report, the president has signed a secret directive authorizing military action against drug cartels designated as “terrorist” groups, having added several drug gangs to the terror blacklist since February. The new operation in the Caribbean is almost certainly based on that order.

One US official reached by Reuters earlier this week suggested the naval mission might involve lethal force, saying the warships could be used not only for “intelligence and surveillance operations, but also as a launching pad for targeted strikes.”

The deployment will include at least 4,000 sailors and Marines, and a wide range of military assets: three Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, transport vessels, an amphibious assault ship, as well as a nuclear-powered attack submarine and P8 Poseidon reconnaissance planes.

That’s a lot of soldiers and hardware for a few drug busts, raising questions about how such an arsenal might be used in practice – and who it is intended for. (Granted, any major operation against Venezuela would require a much larger force, with the US’s 1989 invasion of Panama involving well over 25,000 troops.)

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Intelligence Reports: Hezbollah Helping ‘Transnational Cocaine Trafficking’ in Latin America

Intelligence reports revealed an international criminal network linking Iran and its proxy Hezbollah with the Venezuelan regime’s Cartel of the Suns and Colombia’s FARC and ELN Marxist terrorist groups, Colombian outlets reported this week.

According to the Colombian magazine Semana, Middle Eastern intelligence agencies provided the information to the Colombian Armed Forces in a report. Semana and the Bogotá-based Blu Radio both claimed to be in possession of a copy of the report, which reportedly details that Iran, through Hezbollah, provided “financial, logistical, and doctrinal support, especially in the context of transnational cocaine trafficking.”

Iran’s support, the report detailed, allowed the criminal alliance linking Hezbollah, the Venezuelan regime and the Cartel of the Suns, the Marxist National Liberation Army (ELN), and FARC’s Second Marquetalia group to establish “drug trafficking corridors, safe havens, illicit military operations, and extractive activities” along the Colombian-Venezuelan border.

Blu Radio detailed that the collapse of Venezuela’s governance structures allowed criminal networks such as ELN to infiltrate state structures and consolidate its presence in the Venezuelan states of Apure, Táchira, and Zulia, all of which neighbor Colombia.

The report then explained that the Cartel of the Suns, run by dictator Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking members of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and the nation’s military, has “evolved” into a more complex structure that interacts with Colombian armed groups. The Maduro regime’s repressive DGCIM Military Counterintelligence Directorate reportedly “acts as a protector of this network, guaranteeing impunity and eliminating dissent.” High-ranking generals from the DGCIM, the Venezuelan National Army, and the National Guard, the radio station said, are presumably involved in the criminal network.

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Prosecutors accuse Smartmatic executive of bribing Venezuelan election official with luxury home

Federal prosecutors have accused Smartmatic co-founder Roger Piñate of bribing the top Venezuelan election official with a luxury residence in Caracas in exchange for political favors.

Piñate, who was charged with multiple counts of money laundering and bribery related to contracts in the Philippines, according to the Miami Herald, has been accused of transferring the home to election chief Tibisay Lucena Ramírez in order to secure her help in resolving a commercial dispute with the Venezuelan government.

The alleged dispute comes after Smartmatic claimed in 2017 that Nicolás Maduro’s administration committed fraud in the National Constituent Assembly election, which led the company to conclude its business in the country later that year. 

The new revelations occurred in a court filing related to the Philippines’ case on Friday, where prosecutors attempted to show a pattern of allegedly criminal behavior and alleged intent to commit bribery.

Pinate-VenezuelaBribeAllegationDocument.pdf

Piñate was charged in a $1 million bribery scheme in the Philippines for allegedly inflating the prices of voting machines and diverting the excess funds into secret accounts used to pay off Philippine election official Juan Andrés Donato Bautista.

Prosecutors claimed the home was allegedly transferred to Lucena Ramírez through a foreign shell company with the help of an unnamed co-conspirator. The transfer was allegedly completed between April and July 2019, after the company supposedly ended its business in Venezeula. 

Smartmatic denied the accusations in a statement to the Miami Herald, claiming the filing was riddled with “misrepresentations,” including with the timeline. 

“As an example, the government’s citation of an alleged bribe in Venezuela in 2019 is untethered from reality. Smartmatic ceased all operations in Venezuela in August 2017 after blowing the whistle on the government and has never sought to secure business there again,” the company said in an email. “We have always operated lawfully, ethically, and transparently. We stand by our two-decade track record of integrity.”

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Russia Builds Ammunition Plant in Venezuela to Produce 70 Million Rounds Annually

Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport has completed the first phase of a new ammunition plant in Venezuela, designed to produce 7.62 mm cartridges for Kalashnikov assault rifles, Russian state conglomerate Rostec announced on July 2.

The facility, now partially operational, features four production lines. Two are designated for steel-core bullets, while the others will manufacture tracer and blank rounds. According to the announcement, the plant is already capable of producing tens of thousands of rounds per shift, with an annual output projected to reach 70 million cartridges.

A test program conducted at a dedicated inspection station reportedly confirmed the ammunition meets the stated performance standards.

The project marks a significant step toward establishing a full-cycle production capability on Venezuelan soil. Rosoboronexport’s executive director noted that the remaining production buildings will be commissioned soon.

In addition to the main manufacturing lines, the plant has launched a waste disposal facility, intermediate storage for ammunition components, and a 210-meter firing range for testing tracer rounds. Auxiliary infrastructure, including a fire reservoir, is also in place.

Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheev acknowledged the project faced major logistical and technical challenges due to international sanctions imposed on both Russia and Venezuela. The manufacturing lines and commissioning efforts were carried out by the Koshkin Design Bureau of Automatic Lines.

“For Rosoboronexport, the construction of the ammunition plant in Venezuela came with serious challenges, including sanctions pressure on both countries. Despite these objective constraints, together with Rostec, we carried out this complex infrastructure project and demonstrated to the world that we always fulfill our commitments to our partners,” said Alexander Mikheev.

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FBI bombshell: Venezuelan officials are using gangbangers as ‘soldiers’ inside US…

Somehow, in today’s upside-down world, the radicalized left has decided that violent gang members are the new underdogs they need to defend. Instead of standing up for law-abiding American citizens, they’ve gone all-in on protecting the worst of the worst—drug traffickers, sex offenders, murderers, and now, even foreign-backed gangbangers. And while they’re busy shedding tears for MS-13 and waving in cartel thugs at the border, everyday Americans are being thrown to the wolves.

But now we’ve reached a whole new level of disturbing. A new report from Fox News has dropped—and every single American should be talking about it. This isn’t a border security issue anymore. This is now a national security issue that involves deeply dangerous and deadly foreign interference. And at the center of it is Venezuela’s evil dictator Nicolás Maduro and the violent criminal gang known as Tren de Aragua.

According to Fox’s exclusive report, the FBI has uncovered a plot that includes Venezuelan officials helping gang members sneak into the US—and not just to commit random crimes, but to carry out Maduro’s sinister agenda. According to the report, these gangbangers are being used like pawns in a proxy war and were sent here to intimidate and possibly kill critics of the regime right here on US soil.

And what did the Biden regime do about it while they were in power? Nothing. Or maybe worse than nothing. They opened the floodgates at the southern border and rolled out the red carpet for these violent thugs. No vetting, no questions—just a welcome mat and a pat on the back as these gangbangers illegally flooded in.

Whether they were complicit or just blindly obsessed with social justice, the result is the same: Biden and the Dems helped Maduro destabilize the United States—and now President Trump is left to clean up the mess.

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FBI Says Venezuelan Officials ‘Likely Using’ Tren de Aragua Gang

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says Venezuelan government officials may be using Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members, according to a Fox News report.

A “senior” Trump administration official shared with Fox News, “unclassified portions” of an FBI assessment, which found that officials within Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro’s regime, were using TdA gang members “as proxies for the Maduro regime in an effort to destabilize” countries such as the U.S., Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia, according to the outlet:

Fox News Digital has learned that the FBI assesses that some Venezuelan government officials are likely using Tren de Aragua members as proxies for the Maduro regime in an effort to destabilize Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and the United States. The official said the FBI assesses that this demonstrates Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s willingness to violate the territorial sovereignty of Venezuela’s neighbors to advance his regime’s policies.

FBI officials have reportedly assessed that within “six to 18 months,” Venezuelan government officials will try to “leverage” TdA gang members in the U.S. to act as “proxy actors to threaten, abduct and kill members of the Venezuelan diaspora” who have been “vocal critics of Maduro,” according to the outlet.

The report comes as President Donald Trump and his administration have faced legal challenges from several judges in response to the deportations of Venezuelan migrants who are suspected of being TdA members under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

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Rubio Threatens Venezuela With War Over Essequibo Region

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Thursday that the United States will respond forcefully if Venezuela attacks Guyana, amid an ongoing territorial dispute that includes massive oil and gas reserves. Rubio said it would be a “very bad day” for Venezuela should that happen, reported AP.

During a visit to Guyana, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Venezuela against aggression over the Essequibo region, hinting at possible U.S. military response.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro fired back, calling Rubio an “imbecile” and declaring Venezuela would not be threatened.

The century-old Essequibo dispute reignited after ExxonMobil’s 2015 oil discovery. The U.S. has since boosted military and intelligence ties with Guyana.

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Maduro Bends The Knee: Venezuela Agrees To Resume US Deportation Flights Of Illegal Immigrants

Venezuela has said it will once again accept U.S. repatriation flights carrying its nationals deported for illegally entering the United States.

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro announced that a deal had been reached in a televised address on Saturday.

“Tomorrow, thanks to the government’s perseverance, we’ll resume flights to continue rescuing and freeing migrants from prisons in the United States,” Maduro said.

Venezuela’s Parliament President and chief negotiator with the United States, Jorge Rodriguez, said in a statement on social media, “We have agreed with the U.S. government to resume the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants with an initial flight tomorrow, Sunday.”

This will prevent illegal immigrants who are Venezuelan nationals from being deported to detention centers in El Salvador, as well as guarantee “the return of our compatriots to their nation with the safeguard of their Human Rights,” he said, referring to Venezuelan gang members currently detained in El Salvador.

“Migrating isn’t a crime, and we won’t rest until everyone who wants to return is back and we rescue our kidnapped brothers in El Salvador,” Rodriguez added.

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened on March 18 further harsh sanctions after Maduro on March 8 suspended taking in repatriation flights in response to the U.S. Treasury Department’s withdrawal of Chevron’s license to participate in Venezuela’s oil

A diplomatic spat erupted, with the United States threatening to send criminal illegal immigrants from Venezuela to El Salvador for detention if Caracas would not accept them.

Some 350 Venezuelan nationals had already been deported back home as part of Trump’s rapid deportation program that prioritizes removing illegal immigrants who are violent criminals or terrorists. Among them were some 180 alleged to be Tren de Aragua members who spent up to 16 days at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Tren de Aragua originated in a Venezuelan prison. Members have accompanied an exodus of millions of economic immigrants and political refugees from Venezuela seeking better living conditions after their nation’s democracy and economy came undone last decade.

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The Empire of Crime: María Corina Machado and Edmundo González accuse Maduro of leading the Tren de Aragua and the Cartel of the Suns.

The statement issued on March 17, 2025, by María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, leaders of the Venezuelan opposition, was a forceful attack against Nicolás Maduro.
In it, they directly accused him of being the leader of two of the most dangerous criminal organizations in Hispanic America: the Tren de Aragua and the Cartel of the Suns.
Machado and González claim that these organizations do not operate independently but are instruments of Maduro’s regime.

According to María Corina, the Tren de Aragua is involved in drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and other serious crimes, affecting both Venezuelans and citizens of other countries. The Cartel of the Suns, meanwhile, is allegedly composed of senior government officials and military personnel engaged in large-scale drug trafficking.
Her statement highlights how these mafias have extended their reach beyond Venezuela. The Tren de Aragua, originating in Aragua state, has committed numerous murders both inside and outside the country, including in Chile, according to data from the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office.

In Santiago, for instance, it is blamed for assassinations and extortion activities. Additionally, she mentions cases in Peru and Colombia, where the gang has been linked to human trafficking networks.

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Venezuela Debuts Website to Report ‘Unjust Deportations’ of Illegals from U.S.

Venezuela’s socialist regime launched a new website Tuesday that allows individuals to report alleged “unjust deportations” of Venezuelan illegal migrants from the United States “before it’s too late.”

The website is managed by the “Committee for the Defense of Venezuelan Migrants,” an organization directly affiliated with the Venezuelan socialist regime that describes itself as an organization “committed to the defense and promotion of human rights focused on denouncing and making visible the situation of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S.”

“We are a collective committed to the defense and promotion of human rights focused on denouncing and making visible the particular situation of vulnerability of Venezuelan citizens in the United States, whose presidential policy has been dedicated to stigmatize migration,” the website reads. “The persecution, imprisonment and deportation of Venezuelans without due process is an aberration that should not be indifferent to us and that constitutes an anachronistic and illegal act that evokes the most nefarious episodes of human history.”

The recently-launched website features a fillable form asking “victims” of the deportations, relatives, non-government organizations, or other individuals to report incidents of “unjust deportations.” In addition, the website asks individuals to pledge their support for a manifesto against President Donald Trump and the 1798 Alien Enemies Act under the premise that, “If they treat us as enemies, we must unite.”

“Sign for yourself, for the future, for your children, for every Venezuelan brother and sister in a similar situation. United we are invincible,” the website declared.

The website is part of dictator Nicolás Maduro’s “response” to President Donald Trump’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport a group of 238 Venezuelans suspected of being members of the Tren de Aragua terrorist organization to El Salvador on Sunday as per the terms of an agreement with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. The Maduro regime first condemned the deportation of the migrants by claiming that the deportations were comparable to “slavery” and “Nazi concentration camps.” Hours later, Maduro vowed that he and his regime would “not rest” until the Venezuelan deportees “kidnapped” by Bukele are “rescued” from El Salvador.

In addition to the website, the Committee for the Defense of Venezuelan Migrants launched an accompanying Instagram account whose content features Artificial Intelligence-generated images of President Trump and President Bukele depicted as “the duo of evil,” accompanied with a text that reads, “if they mess with one [Venezuelan], they mess with all of Venezuela.”

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