Tension between the United States and Venezuela have been mounting over the past several months as the US builds up its military presence in nearby waters in what they say is an effort to beat the drug cartels.
But now, illegal strikes by the US on suspected drug traffickers have edged the two countries even further towards war.
Donald Trump has vowed to continue his war on drug cartels, even threatening striking them on Venezuelan land.
In response, Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro has accused the US of trying to carry out a regime change and warned that he will respond to any attack.
Months of tension
Trump has been slowly expanding US military missions near Venezuelan waters, as he tries to get a grip on drugs being trafficked from south America into the US.
After his inauguration, the president pledged to “wage war” on drug cartels and ordered the State Department to label them as terrorist organisations.
However, in a marked departure from the norm of boarding boats suspected of carry drugs and detaining suspects, the US has started carrying out strikes on them, killing those on board.
Over the past month, the US has deployed warships, submarines and aircrafts around the southern Carribean, which has escalated tensions with Venezuela.
Two screen captures from a video posted on the X account of The White House on September 15, 2025, depicting what U.S. President Donald Trump said was a U.S. military strike on a Venezuelan drug cartel vessel that had been on its way to the United States (The White House/ Reuters)On Tuesday, 11 people onboard a boat that the White House claimed was smuggling drugs were killed.
The US administration provided no evidence that they were drug-traffickers, but Secretary of War Pete Hegseth insisted that the killings were necessary as a deterrent.
This week the White House told Congress that Trump considers his administration to be in “armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels.
In a notice to Congress released by the Washington Post, the US president wrote: “The United States has now reached a critical point. We must use force in self-defence … against the ongoing attacks by these designated terrorist organisations”.
What happened this week ?
Hegseth announced on Friday that the US government had completed another extrajudicial strike on a speedboat.
This is the fourth such attack this month, and the action is not permissible under international law.
Describing the attack as a “lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations”, Hegseth claimed on social media that it had killed four “narco-terrorists” he alleges were trafficking drugs to the US.
Hegseth added: “the strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics — headed to America to poison our people”.
Earlier this morning, on President Trump's orders, I directed a lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the… pic.twitter.com/QpNPljFcGn
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 3, 2025The Secretary of War, however, did not provide any evidence to substantiate his claim.
Since then, Trump has threatened the possibility to expanding military action to target “cartels coming by land”.
This could see the US targeting sites that it alleges are involved in drug production or trafficking.
Any strike on Venezuelan soil, however, would be a clear breach of its sovereignty.
How has Venezuela responded ?
President Nicolas Maduro has responded to Trump’s threat of land strikes by saying he is preparing to declare a state of emergency.
He said earlier this week: “In the face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defence of Venezuela”.
Addressing the public on Monday, the President said he had completed a “consultation process” that would lead to the declaration of “a state of external unrest” and the need “to protect our people, our peace and our stability”.
Maduro is currently wanted by the US on drug trafficking charges. They are offering a $50m (£37m) reward for information leading to his arrest. The Venezuelan president strongly denies the allegations.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro points at a map of the Americas during a new conference in Caracas, Venezuela, Sept 15, 2025 (Photo: Jesus Vargas/ AP)Maduro has accused the US of “seeking a regime change through military threat”, something which the Trump administration has strongly denied.
It is widely known that Trump has sought to challenge Maduro’s presidency, recognizing his opponent as the leader of the country after a disputed election in 2019.
Trump was later forced to deny participating in a failed coup attempt involving US special forces .
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