Behind Trump’s assault on the Caribbean

First published in French at L’Anticapitaliste. Translation by Adam Novak for Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières.

The deployment of over 14,000 US troops in the Caribbean, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, marks the largest US military presence in the region since the 1989 Panama invasion. Yoletty Bracho, a specialist on Venezuela, and Franck Gaudichaud of the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) international commission, analyse this imperialist escalation and its implications for the Venezuelan people. They argue for an anti-imperialist solidarity that supports popular movements rather than the authoritarian Maduro regime.

What are the reasons for recent changes in Caribbean geopolitics?

Since Trump came to power, we have observed a geopolitical shift in the Caribbean: massive reinforcement of the military fleet, bombing of boats presented as transporting drugs to the United States, record deployment of soldiers and armaments — aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, destroyers — perhaps 14,000 soldiers in total.1 There have never been so many military personnel in the Caribbean since the invasion of Panama against Noriega2 or the intervention in Haiti in the 1990s.3

This is part of Trump’s imperialist policy, but represents a qualitative leap. Latin America has always been considered the backyard of the United States since the end of the 19th century, but Trump’s circle — including Marco Rubio,4 who is extremely virulent — seeks to regain control of Latin American space in the name of “hemispheric security”. These are continuities observable under Obama or Biden, but Trump 2 crosses a new threshold, applying maximum pressure on Maduro, threatening the entire Caribbean Sea and Colombia, and also targeting natural resources.

This military activism is part of inter-imperial competition.5 US imperialism is in decline, even if it remains dominant. Some speak of “domination without hegemony” where brute force is put to the fore by the Trump administration. Since the 2000s, China has taken on a considerable role in Latin America: it is the primary trading partner of South America and the second largest for Mexico. The admiral of the US Southern Command6 stated that Chinese presence had to be countered with reinforced military presence. The “imperial MAGA strategy” described by John Bellamy Foster7 is contradictory: a protectionist social base hostile to military deployments, but an American bourgeoisie demanding control of its backyard.

Is Trump trying to overthrow the Venezuelan regime?

These military pressures clearly target Venezuela.8 Since Chávez came to power, tensions between the United States and Venezuela have been structural, linked to the emergence of a government that presented itself as left-wing, revolutionary, and that offered the continent an alternative to American leadership. The confrontation was immediate: the ousting of Chávez, then the 2002 coup d’état openly supported by Washington,9 and constant support for the traditional opposition — sometimes through electoral means, sometimes engaged in extra-institutional overthrow attempts.

After Chávez’s death, Maduro came to power in 2013 and American pressure intensified: sanctions against those close to the regime, sanctions against the national oil company, then sanctions prohibiting the State from acquiring debt, aggravating an already existing economic crisis. The crisis is not solely due to sanctions: it also stems from the economic choices of Chavismo in power, but the sanctions make it much harder.

During this phase, an authoritarian turn by the Maduro government occurred, marked by a break with the democratic values initially championed by the Bolivarian Revolution, as well as increased repression against the population, against opponents, and very specifically against left-wing forces.10 This real authoritarianism is used by the United States to present itself as a defender of democracy: support for opposition figure María Corina Machado11 — Nobel Peace Prize laureate — and adoption of a “fight against narco-terrorism” discourse. According to this narrative, the Maduro government deliberately sends drugs and migrants to destabilise the United States. Of course, the United States has never had the wellbeing of Latin American populations as its objective: it is not by killing more than 80 people in the Caribbean Sea that one builds a democratic quest.

Trump often blows hot and cold: occasional discussions with Maduro, threats of interventions, maximum pressure, mentions of CIA actions, without direct ground intervention. However, the presence of the aircraft carrier Ford marks a clear military escalation. The strikes do not only concern Venezuela: attacks in the Pacific have targeted Colombian boats, and people arrested were from Ecuador, which shows the broadening of pressure to the entire region. There is also a domestic dimension, notably in US Latino communities hostile to Maduro, which constitutes a mobilisable electoral base, particularly for Marco Rubio.

Is Trump only targeting the Venezuelan regime or is this a more general project for the region?

Trump also supports Latin American far-right forces: support for Milei in Argentina12 with threats regarding bilateral relations, pressure on Brazil following Bolsonaro’s imprisonment,13 immediate congratulations after Bolivia’s shift to the right, and a possible similar dynamic in Chile.

This imperialist offensive does not mechanically reproduce the policies of the 1970s, even if some authors speak of a “new cold war”. The context is more complex, mixing external pressures and discreet negotiations. The example is telling: whilst the United States asks aircraft to avoid Venezuelan airspace due to military activities, a flight arrives from the United States with twelve deportees, demonstrating the existence of bilateral agreements. Behind a displayed diplomatic break, oil concessions and prisoner exchanges continue.

What is Maduro’s response to the situation?

Faced with the first strikes, the Maduro government’s initial reaction was to deny the facts, claiming that the images were produced by artificial intelligence. This left the families of those executed without recourse, unable to demand justice from either the Maduro government or the United States government. Subsequently, Maduro displays a posture of strength and mobilises the population, whilst seeking spaces for diplomatic negotiation, invoking peace and presenting Trump as a possible interlocutor. The Maduro government is aware that it is absolutely not capable of militarily confronting the world’s greatest military power. This tension also serves him domestically to close ranks, neutralise dissent and repress critical left forces.

On the regional side, an important position is that of the Petro government14 in Colombia: explicit denunciation of US military presence, refusal to support Maduro, call for a negotiated solution, and opposition to any military intervention, because Colombia is also threatened and accused of being a narco-state. The question is one of regional solidarity between popular movements and progressive governments — which does not exist today.

What kind of solidarity should we build then?

For us, here, it is first and foremost a clear anti-imperialist solidarity, which denounces Trump’s strategy in the Caribbean Sea and this new imperialist aggression. For the NPA,15 this means reflecting on a unitary strategy in France, as the situation risks continuing to worsen in the coming weeks.

At the same time, our solidarity is not an alignment with the Maduro regime, which is clearly authoritarian. Within the European and French left, there is sometimes a very simplified view where anti-imperialism would mean aligning behind any government as soon as it is targeted by Washington. This is absolutely not our perspective. Our solidarity must be with peoples, social movements, autonomous progressive forces, and not with authoritarian regimes.

Binary views of the situation prevent us from seeing the internal struggles in Venezuela. Venezuelan revolutionary lefts, sometimes originating from Chavismo, denounce Maduro’s authoritarianism and become targets: disappearances, arrests, accusations of terrorism or incitement to hatred. This also affects journalists, social science researchers, and environmental activists. Understanding these struggles requires going beyond a binary view where the government’s façade anti-imperialism would automatically justify support.

To understand this, and to make these connections, we must go beyond a binary view: one that would have Maduro’s anti-imperialist discourse — denounced as a façade discourse by Venezuelan lefts — automatically justify solidarity with his government. It is precisely by making our view more complex that we can see reality as it is.

Interview conducted by Martin Noda, synthesis proposed by the editorial team of L’Anticapitaliste. Yoletty Bracho, teacher-researcher and specialist on Venezuela. Franck Gaudichaud, professor of Latin American contemporary history and studies at Université Toulouse-Jean-Jaurès, member of the NPA international commission.

• 1

  The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, was deployed to the region in late October 2025 along with five destroyers, a cruiser and a submarine. See Dan La Botz, “The United States Prepares for War on Venezuela”, Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières. Available at: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article76818

• 2

  Manuel Noriega (1934–2017) was the military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989. The United States invaded Panama in December 1989 in Operation Just Cause, ostensibly to protect American citizens and combat drug trafficking, but primarily to remove Noriega from power.

• 3

  The United States led a military intervention in Haiti in 1994 (Operation Uphold Democracy) to restore President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who had been ousted in a coup in 1991.

• 4

  Marco Rubio (born 1971) is a Cuban-American Republican politician and former Florida Senator who became US Secretary of State under Trump’s second administration. He is closely associated with Florida’s neoconservative movement and has long advocated for aggressive policies towards Cuba and Venezuela.

• 5

  On the concept of “imperial MAGA strategy” and its contradictions, see United Left Platform, “USA/Venezuela - Trump’s looming ’Forever War’: Hands off Latin America and Venezuela!”, https://links.org.au/updated-statements-us-hands-venezuela-colombia-and-latin-america 

• 6

  United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is one of eleven unified combatant commands in the US Department of Defense, responsible for military operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

• 7

  John Bellamy Foster (born 1953) is a US sociologist and editor of Monthly Review, known for his work on Marxist ecology and political economy.

• 8

  On the situation in Venezuela and the dual pressures from US imperialism and domestic authoritarianism, see Y.B. and F.G., “Venezuela: Between Trump’s imperialist offensive and Maduro’s repression”, Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières. Available at: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article77109

• 9

  In April 2002, a coup briefly removed Hugo Chávez from power for 47 hours before he was restored by a combination of loyal military officers and mass popular mobilisation. The Bush administration was quick to recognise the coup government before Chávez’s restoration.

• 10

  On the repression of the Venezuelan left and social movements, see Anti*Capitalist Resistance, “Hands off Venezuela – No to Trump’s war”, Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières. Available at: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article77204

• 11

  María Corina Machado (born 1967) is a Venezuelan right-wing opposition leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025. She has openly supported Trump’s policies towards Venezuela and called for international intervention.

• 12

  Javier Milei (born 1970) is the far-right libertarian President of Argentina, elected in 2023, known for his radical free-market policies and close alignment with Trump.

• 13

  Jair Bolsonaro (born 1955), former far-right President of Brazil (2019–2022), was imprisoned in 2025 following his conviction for attempting to overturn the 2022 election results.

• 14

  Gustavo Petro (born 1960) is the President of Colombia, elected in 2022 as the country’s first left-wing head of state. A former guerrilla member of the M-19 movement, he has pursued progressive social and environmental policies whilst navigating complex relations with both the US and Venezuela.

• 15

  Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste (New Anticapitalist Party) is a French far-left political party founded in 2009, affiliated with the Fourth International. It advocates revolutionary socialism, feminism, ecosocialism and anti-imperialism.