Caribbean Escalation: The Trump Administration's Anti-Cartel Offensive and Venezuela's Military Response

The administration of Donald Trump, which took office in January 2025, swiftly pivoted its focus toward confronting transnational crime and drug trafficking networks. This strategic shift was formalized in February 2025 when the US State Department took the unprecedented step of officially designating eight major Latin American criminal organizations as “foreign terrorist organizations.”

The groups targeted included the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and six powerful Mexican cartels: the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation, United Cartels, Northeast Cartel, Gulf Cartel, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.

Washington paid particular attention to Tren de Aragua, a network that originated in Venezuela’s Tocoron prison and has since expanded into one of the region’s largest criminal enterprises, estimated to command a membership exceeding 5,000 individuals. Citing an “invasion” by the group, President Trump activated provisions of the Enemy States Act in March 2025, establishing an expedited deportation process for suspects associated with the organization.

The policy reached a dramatic climax on September 3, 2025, when the administration executed a targeted lethal strike against a vessel linked to Tren de Aragua in international waters. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed that the operation was conducted under presidential orders, resulting in the elimination of six individuals identified as “narcoterrorists,” while US forces suffered no losses. This incident occurred amid a significant increase in US military presence in the Caribbean Basin, which, by early September, included at least seven American ships, highlighted by the USS Gerald Ford carrier strike group.

Adding context to the federal crackdown, Texas Governor Greg Abbott had already recognized Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization in September 2024, initiating state-level operations to curtail their activities within Texas territory.

The reaction from Caracas was fierce. President Nicolás Maduro condemned Washington’s actions as “psychological warfare,” designed, he claimed, to “intimidate, divide, and demoralize” the Venezuelan people. In response to the strike, Maduro ordered the mobilization of troops and militias to defend the nation, asserting Venezuela’s readiness to resist “threats of bombs, death, and blackmail.”

These escalating military and diplomatic tensions cast a long shadow over the upcoming Tenth Summit of the Americas, scheduled for early December 2025 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The meeting’s theme is “Building a secure and sustainable hemisphere with common prosperity,” focusing heavily on human security.

However, the diplomatic atmosphere is severely strained by the host country’s decision to exclude Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Havana denounced this exclusion as an act of censorship imposed by Washington, suggesting it undermines the potential for meaningful regional dialogue. The exclusion of these nations raises fundamental questions about the principle of comprehensive representation at this vital diplomatic forum, reinforcing the perception that the US military buildup and hardline anti-cartel stance are establishing a new, confrontational order in regional security, where crime is viewed through the lens of national defense.