U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing options for launching military strikes against drug cartels in Venezuela, a move that could sharply escalate Washington’s already tense standoff with Caracas.
According to a CNN report citing multiple sources, discussions are underway in the Trump administration about carrying out direct strikes inside Venezuela.
Such an action would mark an unprecedented expansion of U.S. operations in Latin America, signaling that Washington may be considering a broader campaign beyond maritime interdictions.
The deliberations follow an incident earlier in the week, when the U.S. military struck a Venezuelan boat in the southern Caribbean. Trump said the vessel was carrying narcotics.
At least 11 people were killed in the operation, which the president described as the beginning of a much larger push to dismantle regional drug trafficking networks.
“This is only the start,” Trump reportedly told close aides, insisting that the U.S. would not allow Venezuela to serve as a hub for narcotics.
Analysts say the administration’s strategy could also indirectly challenge President Nicolás Maduro’s government, which Washington has long accused of protecting cartels and profiting from illegal drug flows.
Asked directly by reporters if his administration was pursuing regime change in Venezuela, Trump declined to give a clear answer.
“We’re not talking about that,” he said on Friday, before adding that Venezuela’s last election “was very strange, to put it mildly.”
The Venezuelan government reacted strongly to the reports. President Maduro called on Washington to back down, urging the U.S. to respect his country’s independence.
“The government of the United States should abandon its plan of violent regime change in Venezuela and in all of Latin America,” Maduro declared.
“We demand respect for sovereignty, peace, and self-determination.”
So far, neither the White House nor Venezuela’s Ministry of Communications has issued formal responses to media inquiries about the possible strikes.
The situation adds a new layer of uncertainty to already strained U.S.-Venezuela relations, with regional observers warning that further escalation could destabilize Latin America and trigger wider geopolitical consequences.