Colombia

Colombian fighters Alexander Ante, 48, and Jose Aron Medina Aranda, 37 were each sentenced to 13 years in prison for serving with Ukrainian forces.

A court run by Moscow-installed authorities in Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk region has sentenced two Colombian nationals to 13 years in prison each for fighting on behalf of Kyiv.

The ruling, announced on Thursday, is the latest in a series of lengthy sentences handed to foreign fighters accused by Moscow-backed prosecutors of being “mercenaries”.

“For participating in hostilities on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” – Alexander Ante, 48, and Jose Aron Medina Aranda, 37 – “were each sentenced to 13 years in prison”, the prosecutor’s office said on the Telegram messaging app.

According to reports, the pair fought for Ukraine in 2023 and 2024 before disappearing in July while transiting through Venezuela, a close ally of Russia, on their way home to Colombia after serving in the war.

Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported in July 2024 that the men were detained in the Venezuelan capital Caracas while still wearing Ukrainian military uniforms.

A month later, Russian authorities said they had taken custody of the two, who both hail from the western Colombian city of Popayan.

Footage released by Russia’s FSB security service showed the men handcuffed and dressed in prison uniforms as masked officers escorted them through a court building.

News of the pair’s sentencing on Thursday was widely covered in Colombian media.

“I don’t know if we will see them again one day. That’s the sad reality,” said Medina’s wife, Cielo Paz, in an interview with the AFP news agency, adding that she had not heard from her husband since his arrest.

#Colombia 🇨🇴🇷🇺 Alexander Ante y José Medina fueron condenados por participar como “mercenarios” en las hostilidades del lado de las Fuerzas Armadas de Ucrania.

👉Lee la nota completa en: https://t.co/UrlDjv6Tnp pic.twitter.com/1kiEl1rlU2

— RTVC Noticias (@RTVCnoticias) November 6, 2025

Translation: Alexander Ante and Jose Medina were convicted for participating as “mercenaries” in the hostilities on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In June, Russian state news agency TASS reported that Pablo Puentes Borges, another Colombian national, was handed a 28-year prison term by a Russian military court on charges of terrorism and mercenary activity for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.

Earlier, in April, Miguel Angel Cardenas Montilla, also from Colombia, received a nine-year sentence for fighting with Ukrainian forces.

While Russian investigators have labelled foreigners who fight alongside Ukrainian forces as “mercenaries”, the Kyiv Post notes that most foreign fighters serving in Ukraine’s armed forces are formally enlisted and receive the same pay and status as Ukrainian soldiers.

That formalisation of their status in the Ukrainian army means they do not meet the legal definition of a mercenary under international law, the media outlet reported.

But Moscow continues to prosecute captured foreign fighters as “mercenaries” – a charge that carries up to 15 years in prison – rather than recognising them as prisoners of war who are protected under the Geneva Conventions.

Colombia’s government says dozens of its citizens have been killed fighting in Ukraine since the war began in February 2022.

Catatumbo, Colombia – The Catatumbo region, which stretches along the border with Venezuela in the department of Norte de Santander, is Colombia’s most volatile frontier.

Endowed with oil reserves and coca crops but impoverished and neglected, this border area has historically been a site of violent competition between armed groups fighting for territorial control.

The National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia’s largest remaining guerrilla force, maintains a strong and organised presence, operating across the porous border with Venezuela.

It is there that some of their fighters pick up an Al Jazeera reporting team and drive us to meet their commanders.

Tensions remain high in this region. In January, thousands of people were displaced because of the fighting between the ELN and a dissident faction from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that continues to operate in some parts of the country in spite of peace agreements brokered in 2016.

The fight is over control of the territory and access to the border with Venezuela, which is a crucial way to move drugs out of the country.

Entering the area, it’s immediately apparent that the ELN is in total control here. There is no evidence of the country’s military. ELN flags decorate the sideroads, and the signs give a clear message of the way the group’s members see Colombia right now.

“Total peace is a failure,” they say.

There is also no mobile phone signal. People tell the Al Jazeera team that telephone companies do not want to pay a tax to the armed groups controlling the territory.

When President Gustavo Petro took office, he promised to implement a total peace plan with Colombia’s armed groups. But the negotiations have not been easy, especially with the ELN.

Government offcials suspended the peace talks because of the fighting in Catatumbo, but now say they are ready to reinitiate talks.

Al Jazeera meets with Commander Ricardo and Commander Silvana in a small house in the middle of the mountains. The interview has to be fast, they say, as they are concerned about a potential attack and reconnaissance drones that have been circulating in the area.

The commanders are accompanied by some of their fighters. Asked how many they have in the area, they respond, “We are thousands, and not everyone is wearing their uniforms. Some are urban guerrillas.”

The government estimates the ELN has around 3,000 fighters. But the figure could be much higher.

Commander Ricardo, who is in charge of the region, says he believes there could be a chance for peace.

“The ELN has been battling for a political solution for 30 years with various difficulties,” he says. “We believed that with Petro, we would advance in the process. But that did not happen. There’s never been peace in Colombia. What we have is the peace of the graves.”

The group and the government had been meeting in Mexico prior to the suspension of the talks. “If the accords we had in Mexico are still there, I believe our central command would agree [it] could open up the way for a political solution to this conflict”, Commander Ricardo tells Al Jazeera.

US drugs threat

But it’s not just the fight with the Colombian state that has armed groups here on alert. The United States military campaign against alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific – and the US’s aggressive posture towards the government of neighbouring Venezuela – have brought an international dimension to what was once an internal Colombian conflict.

The administration of US President Donald Trump refers to these people not as guerrillas but “narco-terrorists”, and has not ruled out the possibility of attacking them on Colombian soil.

The US operation, which began in early September, has killed more than 62 people, including nationals from Venezuela and Colombia, and destroyed 14 boats and a semi-submersible.

Some of the commanders have an extradition request from the US, and the government says they are wanted criminals.

The US strikes against boats allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean and the military build-up in the region to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro are seen by the ELN as another act of US imperialism.

The US government claims one of those boats belonged to the ELN. “Why don’t they capture them and show the world what they captured and what they are they trafficking?” Commander Ricardo asks. “But no, they erase them with a bomb.”

He also warns about the possibility of the ELN joining in the fight against the US. “In the hypothesis that Trump attacks Venezuela, we will have to see how we respond, but it’s not just us,” he says. “[It’s] all of Latin America because I am sure there are going to be many, many people who will grab a weapon and fight because it’s too much. The fact that the United States can step over people without respecting their self-determination has to end.”

The ELN was inspired by the Cuban revolution. But over the years, it has been involved in kidnappings, killings, extortion, and drug trafficking.

Commander Silvana, who joined the group when she was a teen, says the ELN is not like other armed groups in the country.

“Our principles indicate that we are not involved in drug trafficking,” she says. “We have told this to the international community. What we have is taxes in the territories we have been controlling for over 60 years. And if there is coca, of course, we tax it, too.”

Colombia has been a crucial US ally in the region over the decades in the fight against drug trafficking. But Petro has increasingly questioned the US policy in the Caribbean, arguing that Washington’s approach to security and migration reflects out-of-date Cold War logic rather than the region’s current realities.

He has criticised the US military presence and naval operations near Venezuela, warning that such tactics risk increasing tensions instead of promoting cooperation.

Trump has accused Petro, who is a former guerrilla, of being a drug trafficker himself.

Petro responded angrily, writing on X, “Colombia has never been rude to the United States. To the contrary, it has loved its culture very much. But you are rude and ignorant about Colombia.”

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry also condemned Trump’s remarks as offensive and a direct threat to the country’s sovereignty, and vowed to seek international support in defence of Petro and Colombian autonomy.

The belligerent US approach to Venezuela and Colombia, both led by leftist presidents – and the heightened possibility of a US military intervention – risk turning a local Colombia conflict into a broader regional one.

Everyone on the ground is now assessing how they will respond if the US government gives its military the green light to attack Venezuela.

The US is deploying the world’s largest aircraft carrier to Latin America as part of the Trump administration’s stated goal of combating drug trafficking. But as regional tensions soar, Venezuela is accusing Washington of trying to overthrow its government.

Petro, however, did acknowledge that a disruption in the two countries’ military cooperation could have serious consequences.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has indicated that a suspension of aid from the United States would mean little to his country, but that changes to military funding could have an effect.

“What happens if they take away aid? In my opinion, nothing,” Petro told journalists on Thursday, adding that aid funding often moved through US agencies and employed Americans.

But a cut to military cooperation would matter, he added.

“Now, in military aid, we would have some problems,” Petro said, adding that the loss of US helicopters would have the gravest impact.

US President Donald Trump had threatened over the weekend to raise tariffs on Colombia and said on Wednesday that all funding to the country has been halted.

Colombia was once among the largest recipients of US aid in the Western Hemisphere, but the flow of money was suddenly curtailed this year by the shuttering of USAID, the government’s humanitarian assistance arm. Military cooperation has continued.

The Trump administration has already “decertified” Colombia’s efforts to fight drug trafficking, paving the way for potential further cuts, but some US military personnel remain in Colombia, and the two countries continue to share intelligence.

Petro has objected to the US military’s strikes against vessels in the Caribbean, which have killed dozens of people and inflamed tensions in the region. Many legal experts and human rights activists have also condemned the actions.

Trump has responded by calling Petro an “illegal drug leader” and a “bad guy” – language Petro’s government says is offensive.

Petro has recalled his government’s ambassador from Washington, DC, but he nevertheless met with the US’s charge d’affaires in Bogota late on Sunday.

Although Trump has not announced any additional tariffs on top of the 10-percent rate already assessed on Colombian goods, he said on Wednesday he may take serious action against the country.

Petro said Trump is unlikely to put tariffs on oil and coal exports, which represent 60 percent of Colombia’s exports to the US, while the effect of tariffs on other industries could be mitigated by seeking alternative markets.

An increase in tariffs would flip a long-established US policy stance that free trade can make legitimate exports more attractive than drug trafficking, and analysts say more duties could eventually bolster drug trafficking.

Although his government has struggled to take control of major hubs for rebel and criminal activity, Petro said it has made record seizures of 2,800 metric tonnes of cocaine in three years, partly through increased efforts at Pacific ports where container ships are used for smuggling.

He also repeated an accusation that Trump’s actions are intended to boost the far right in Colombia in next year’s legislative and presidential elections.

Colombia announced the move after US President Donald Trump called President Gustavo Petro an ‘illegal drug leader’.

Colombia has said it has recalled its ambassador to the United States, after US President Donald Trump threatened to cut off aid and made disparaging remarks about the Colombian president over the weekend.

The South American country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that Ambassador Daniel Garcia-Pena had already arrived in Bogota to meet with President Gustavo Petro, whom Trump called an “illegal drug leader” on Sunday.

The growing feud between the two countries has centred on US strikes in the Caribbean on vessels that the Trump administration alleges are transporting drugs, mostly from Venezuela. Those strikes, which have killed dozens of people and are widely viewed as a violation of US and international law, have drawn strong criticism from Petro.

In a social media post on Sunday, Trump said aid to Colombia would be cut off and threatened that if Petro did not take more steps to combat the drug trafficking in the country, the US would do the task itself, “and it won’t be done nicely”.

Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said on Monday that he viewed those remarks as “a threat of invasion or military action against Colombia”.

“I can’t imagine closing down some hectares [of drug production sites] unless it’s in that way, unless it’s by invading,” he added.

The US also announced over the weekend that it had struck a vessel from Colombia on Friday, alleging that it was helmed by a left-wing rebel group involved in the transport of drugs. The Trump administration has not provided evidence regarding those claims.

Petro responded in a series of social media posts, stating that one of those killed in the attack was a Colombian fisherman named Alejandro Carranza, who did not have any ties to drug trafficking.

“US government officials have committed murder and violated our sovereignty in territorial waters,” he wrote.

US leader says suspected drug traffickers to be sent to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia.

President Donald Trump says two surviving “narcoterrorists” from a semi-submersible vessel destroyed by the US military in the Caribbean will be sent to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia.

“It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.

He said that US intelligence has confirmed the vessel was carrying fentanyl and other narcotics.

The vessel was targeted on Thursday in what Trump described as a strike aimed at disrupting a major drug trafficking route.

Two crew members were killed, he said, while two others survived and were airlifted by US forces in a helicopter rescue operation to a nearby US Navy warship.

The US military held the survivors on board at least until Friday evening.

The press office for Ecuador’s government said it was not aware of the plans for repatriation. There was no immediate comment from Colombian authorities.

At least six vessels, most of them speedboats, have been targeted by US strikes in the Caribbean since September, with Venezuela alleged to be the origin of some of them.

Washington says its campaign is dealing a decisive blow to drug trafficking, but it has provided no evidence that the people killed were drug smugglers.

With Trump’s confirmation of the death toll on his Truth Social platform, that means US military actions against vessels in the region have killed at least 29 people.

The president has justified the strikes by asserting that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. He is relying on the same legal authority used by the administration of former President George W Bush when it declared a war on terrorism after the September 11 attacks on the US. This includes the ability to capture and detain combatants and use lethal force to take out their leadership. Trump is also treating the suspected traffickers as if they were enemy soldiers in a traditional war.

Previous similar strikes have raised concerns from Democratic lawmakers and legal experts who argue that such operations may exceed accepted wartime authority and risk violating international law.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump said the latest targeted vessel had been “built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs”.

US military buildup

The mission comes amid a sharp US military buildup across the Caribbean, involving guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear-powered submarine and about 6,500 troops. The escalation has fuelled accusations that Washington is inching towards direct confrontation with Venezuela.

On Wednesday, Trump confirmed that he had authorised the CIA to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela, intensifying fears in Caracas that the US is attempting to topple President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro has repeatedly denied involvement in drug trafficking and accused Washington of fabricating a narco-terrorism narrative as a pretext for trying to change the government. He condemned the recent maritime strikes as “a violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty and international law”.

Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, has formally requested the UN Security Council to issue a determination that the US strikes are illegal and to reaffirm Venezuela’s sovereign rights.

Watching comedians perform under the thumb of a government that is actively attacking swaths of its population is nothing new for Angelo Colina.

The 31-year-old joke teller was born and raised in the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo as the South American country faced continuous political turmoil under the prolonged presidencies of Hugo Chavez and Nicolás Maduro, among other economic, humanitarian and democratic challenges — such as hyperinflation, increased rates of starvation and decreased access to adequate healthcare services.

Colina — who carved a lane in the Americas as a Spanish-language comedian and has garnered millions of views across social media due to his whip-smart jokes and playful crowd work — left his home country at 21 and began pursuing a comedy career after moving to the neighboring Colombia.

It was the audacity of Venezuelan acts — like Nacho Redondo, Led Varela, Erika de la Vega and Luis Chataing, who spoke out against oppressive government rule — that inspired Colina and informed his worldview.

“As someone who grew up watching [them] perform and doing jokes about the government in Venezuela while they still could, that was my example,” Colina told The Times. “They really fought censorship as long as they could.”

As a self-described “double immigrant,” first to Colombia and subsequently Salt Lake City, the New York-based comedian said he felt as though he’s already lived four lives — all of which have helped shape his comic eye and sharpened his observational skills.

The current political climate, the continued artistic acceptance of Latino art in the U.S. and the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids throughout the country were at the top of mind as Colina spoke with The Times ahead of his Oct. 11 performance at the Hollywood Improv.

This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity.

What has it been like doing comedy shows for a Spanish-speaking crowd in the time of ICE raids?

I start my shows by saying, “We’re doing comedy. You guys are not noticing, but we’re doing comedy in Spanish. In the United States in 2025. This is the closest to punk that we’ve ever been.” And people start laughing about it, because [federal officials] backed up by the law to say that if you speak Spanish, then they can ask about your current immigration status. And it’s like, all right, let’s speak Spanish. We’re not doing anything wrong. We’re just celebrating our culture in every show we do.

Do you like the idea of being a little punk?

I think it just became that; it was more organic. I wasn’t thinking that I’m part of a larger movement that started by other people of doing comedy in Spanish, which has always been and it’s certainly been a cool thing to me, but now it’s counterculture for sure. But I don’t need to invite people to my show because it’s counterculture, that’s not the reason why I want to sell. People have been freely celebrating being Latino for years already and I don’t think there’s any way to stop it, honestly.

Have you felt a change in your audience at all in recent months?

Unfortunately, I have. I do, however, have to give a shout-out to all the non-Latinos coming to the shows. They are coming because they want to see a form of Latinidad in its own rhythm and they are in love with our culture and they come and they support it.

I see the hesitance to come to shows a lot more with people that used to come with their parents. A lot of people born in the States, but with immigrants parents, used to come to my shows. My shows have always been a place where people finally can do something with their parents. Normally, they don’t find a lot of activities where they can share something like that. So their parents are now the ones that are faster on the joke and they are the ones that are catching up. It’s always been part of my whole demographic.

That’s the shift I’ve been seeing. A lot of people have reached out to me and said, “I would love to go to your show, but I don’t think it’s a good idea right now.” I got a lot of Venezuelans coming to my shows and saying, “This is the last show I’m going to in the States. I’m leaving next week. I got a deportation letter.” I got screenshots of it and they’re saying they’ll see me in Colombia or Argentina. It’s been pretty emotional. Honestly, this might be the first time I actually get emotional talking about it, but it’s hurt a bit.

It must be nice for the audience to have that time at your show to be who they are, but are you addressing the craziness of everything in your act?

I’m not pretending that’s not happening out there. Comedy gave me the opportunity to become a resident in the United States. I got my visa because of the people coming to my shows. It would be disgraceful for me not to talk about what’s happening or not to at least try to be of help, even if it’s by making people laugh.

Has it been difficult navigating the U.S. comedy scene as a fully Spanish act?

I would say dealing with the industry can be tougher sometimes because of the lack of awareness of how powerful Latino crowds can be. Luckily, it’s changing a bit because of musicians like Bad Bunny and Karol. Everything artists like them have done has made people organizing shows say, “Hmm, let’s see. Maybe I won’t give the Spanish act a Tuesday night slot. Let me try them on a Thursday or Friday night or a Sunday.” And then they see the room packed and people spending money, just having a great time.

I complained a lot about the industry last year and now I’m in a phase where I just want to do this for my people for as long as I can. I’m just enjoying being able to perform.

How has it been seeing Latinos in the U.S. further embrace Spanish-language content?

It’s not only Latinos; people from all backgrounds are interested in our culture. In L.A., a lot of Latinos that were born here didn’t have the chance to learn Spanish or practice it as much, but they love the culture. You also see a lot of people that are non-Latino at my show because they’re interested in Spanish.

It’s like music. There’s no merengue in English because there’s no need for merengue in English. If you are a non-Spanish speaker and you like the rhythm, you’re gonna come to the music. And that’s happening at my show and I’m learning how to navigate it. Sometimes I see people making faces and you don’t hear the laugh coming back at you. Then the show ends and everyone’s DMing me and then they’re signing at the very end of the DM because white people love doing that.

Returning home

About 70 percent of the Nukak population remains displaced from their ancestral lands, according to the FCDS.

Most families have been pushed into sedentary lifestyles, settling in makeshift camps on the edge of towns, where addiction and child sexual exploitation became widespread.

Others have settled on small plots in rural areas, where tensions with settlers flared over land disputes.

“The settlers took over the land as if it were vacant. They say there were no Nukak, but what happened was that the Nukak got sick and left,” said Njibe.

In the most remote reaches of the Amazon, where the Nukak reservation is located, the Colombian government has little presence.

The Nukak, therefore, have few legal protections from settler violence when they try to reclaim their lands.

But in recent years, Nukak members like Njibe, tired of waiting for government action, resolved to return on their own.

The idea gained traction in 2020, when several clans retreated into the jungle for fear of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But after returning to their relative isolation, the clans considered staying for good. They called on nongovernmental organisations like FCDS for support.

At that time, Njibe was living on a small farm inside the limits of the Nukak Maku reservation.

Even within the reservation, decades of colonisation had razed large swaths of the forest. Grassy pastures dotted with cows had replaced the Amazon’s towering palm trees.

Deforestation had increased in the wake of a 2016 peace deal between the government and the FARC. The rebel group previously limited deforestation in the Amazon in order to use its dense canopies as cover against air surveillance.

But, as part of the deal, FARC — the largest armed rebel group at the time — agreed to demobilise. A power vacuum emerged in its place.

According to FCDS, powerful landowners quickly moved into areas formerly controlled by the FARC, converting the land into cattle pastures.

Armed dissident groups who rejected the peace deal also remained active in the area, charging extortion fees per cow.

“The colonisation process has caused many [Nukak] sites to be either destroyed or absorbed by settler farms,” said a FCDS expert who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.

Still, in 2022, the FCDS forged ahead with a pilot programme to support seven Nukak communities as they settled deeper into the reservation, where the lush forest still remained. There, the Nukak hoped they could revive a more traditional, if not completely nomadic, way of life.

But many of the expeditions to identify permanent relocation sites failed.

Initially, Njibe hoped to move to a sacred lake inside the reservation that he recalled from his childhood, but once he arrived at the site, he found that it was now part of a ranch.

When he asked the settler who ran the ranch for permission to stay there, the rancher rejected his request, and Njibe was forced to choose another place to live.

He considered returning to a forested area — about 24 hectares (59 acres) wide, roughly the size of 33 football fields — that he considered his childhood home.

But that too lay within a ranch. This time, however, the settler in question, who Njibe said was more sympathetic to his land claims, allowed him to stay.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

The Colombian leader was filmed joining thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters outside UN headquarters in New York.

The United States Department of State has said it will revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, citing his “reckless and incendiary actions” in relation to a speech he gave to protesters outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Friday.

“Earlier today, Colombian president [Gustavo Petro] stood on a NYC [New York City] street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence,” the department said in a post on X.

The post did not provide specific details on Petro’s alleged offence, but footage circulated on social media showed the Colombian leader joining thousands of pro-Palestine protesters outside the UN building in Midtown Manhattan.

In one video clip, Petro can be heard saying his country plans to present a resolution to the UN seeking to establish an “army for the salvation of the world”.

In an unofficial translation of his speech to protesters, Petro said that world nations will contribute soldiers to the army, which will “enforce the orders of international justice” and must be “larger” than the US military.

“I ask all of the soldiers of the army of the US not to point their guns at humanity. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity,” the Colombian leader said.

Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence.

We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.

— Department of State (@StateDept) September 27, 2025

Huge protests took place outside the UN headquarters on Friday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the fourth day of the UN General Assembly’s General Debate.

The Israeli leader delivered a bombastic speech as he told world leaders Israel must be allowed to “finish the job” in Gaza, where the Israeli army has been accused of perpetrating genocide, and lambasting Western states for their “disgraceful decision” to recognise a Palestinian state.

Petro’s office and Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the visa revocation from the Reuters news agency.

In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Petro also hit out at US President Donald Trump, saying the US leader was “complicit in genocide” in Gaza and called for “criminal proceedings” over US air attacks on boats in Caribbean waters that Washington has accused of trafficking drugs.

Petro’s social media profile on Friday showed he had reposted several video clips of himself speaking to the pro-Palestinian protesters in New York.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro told the UNGA the world must end the “genocide in Gaza,” blasting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US, and Europe as genocidal. He also tied US strikes on Caribbean boats to wider abuses driven by racism and domination.

Sept. 16 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Monday night added U.S. ally Colombia to a list of countries failing to live up to their counter-narcotic obligations.

The presidential determination states that the South American nation has “failed demonstrably” during the last 12 months to adhere to its international counter-narcotics agreements, as Trump blames the administration of leftist President Gustavo Petro amid fraying relations between their two governments.

The president annually under law must present Congress a list of countries that are major illicit drug producers and drug transit nations by Sept. 15, with those determined to not be cooperating with U.S. counter-narcotic efforts to be cut off from U.S. foreign assistance.

Colombia has for decades been listed as a major drug transit or major illicit drug producing country but Monday marked the first time since the Clinton administration that the South American nation was judged not to be cooperating fully with the United States.

The presidential determination states that U.S. assistance to Colombia will not be cut off as it is “vital” to U.S. national interests.

Colombia is a major producer of cocaine, and Trump on Monday said Petro’s governance as “exacerbated the crisis.”

“Under President Petro’s leadership, coca cultivation and cocaine production have reached record highs while Colombia’s government failed to meet even its own vastly reduced coca eradication goals, undermining years of mutually beneficial cooperation between our two countries against narco-terrorists,” he said in the determination.

“The failure of Colombia to meet its drug control obligations over the past year rests solely with its political leadership. I will consider changing this designation if Colombia’s government takes more aggressive action to eradicate coca and reduce cocaine production and trafficking,” as well as hold those responsible to account.

In response to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota posting the excerpt from the determination blaming his government for increased cocaine cultivation and production, Petro accused the Trump administration’s accusation of being “a factual lie.”

“The growth of coca crops occurred under the Duque government, and with force fumigation. It is the U.S. policy that has failed,” he said in a statement on X.

“For coca leaf cultivation to decrease, what is needed is not glyphosate sprayed from planes, but rather a reduction in the demand for cocaine, primarily in the U.S. and Europe.”

Relations between the two allies, Washington and Bogota, have been fraught under the Trump administration, which Petro has been a critic of over its hardline immigration and drug law enforcement stances.

The declaration lists 23 countries as being major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries, but only Colombia, Afghanistan, Bolivia, Venezuela and Myanmar as failing to meet their international obligations.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Colombia is among the top two coca bush producing nations.

QUITO, Ecuador — The United States is designating two Ecuadorean gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, marking the Trump administration’s latest step to target criminal cartels in Latin America.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the announcement Thursday while in Ecuador as part of a trip to Latin America overshadowed by an American military strike against a similarly designated gang, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua. That attack has raised concerns in the region about what may follow as President Trump’s government pledges to step up military activity to combat drug trafficking and illegal migration.

“This time, we’re not just going to hunt for drug dealers in the little fast boats and say, ‘Let’s try to arrest them,’” Rubio told reporters in Quito, Ecuador’s capital. “No, the president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they’ve been waging war on us for 30 years and no one has responded.”

Two more gangs designed as terrorist groups

Los Lobos and Los Choneros are Ecuadorean gangs blamed for much of the violence that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The terrorist designation, Rubio said, brings “all sorts of options” for Washington to work in conjunction with the government of Ecuador to crack down on these groups.

That includes the ability to conduct targeted killings as well as take action against the properties and banking accounts in the U.S. of the group’s members and those with ties to the criminal organizations, Rubio said. He said the label also would help with intelligence sharing.

Los Choneros, Los Lobos and other similar groups are involved in contract killings, extortion operations and the movement and sale of drugs. Authorities have blamed them for the increased violence in the country as they fight over drug-trafficking routes to the Pacific and control of territory, including within prisons, where hundreds of inmates have been killed since 2021.

U.S. strike in the Caribbean takes center stage

The strike in the southern Caribbean has commanded attention on Rubio’s trip, which included a stop in Mexico on Wednesday.

U.S. officials say that the vessel’s cargo was intended for the U.S. and that the strike killed 11 people, but they have yet to explain how the military determined that those aboard were Tren de Aragua members.

Rubio said U.S. actions targeting cartels were being directed more toward Venezuela, and not Mexico.

“There’s no need to do that in many cases with friendly governments, because the friendly governments are going to help us,” Rubio told reporters. “They may do it themselves, and we’ll help them do it.”

A day earlier, Rubio justified the strike by saying that the boat posed an “immediate threat” to the U.S. and that Trump opted to “blow it up” rather than follow what had been standard procedure: to stop and board, arrest the crew and seize any contraband.

The strike drew a mixed reaction from leaders around Latin America, where the U.S. history of military intervention and gunboat diplomacy is still fresh. Many, such as officials in Mexico, were careful to not outright condemn the attack. They stressed the importance of protecting national sovereignty and warned that expanded U.S. military involvement might backfire.

Ecuador has struggled with drug trafficking

Ecuador has its own issues with narcotics trafficking.

President Daniel Noboa thanked Rubio for the U.S. efforts to “actually eliminate any terrorist threat.” Before their meeting, Rubio said on social media that the U.S. and Ecuador are “aligned as key partners on ending illegal immigration and combatting transnational crime and terrorism.”

The latest United Nations World Drug Report says various countries in South America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported larger cocaine seizures in 2022 than in 2021. The report does not give Venezuela the outsize role that the White House has in recent months.

“I don’t care what the U.N. says. I don’t care,” Rubio said.

Violence has skyrocketed in Ecuador since the pandemic. Drug traffickers expanded operations and took advantage of the nation’s banana industry. Ecuador is the world’s largest exporter of the fruit, and traffickers find shipping containers filled with it to be the perfect vehicle to smuggle their contraband.

Cartels from Mexico, Colombia and the Balkans have settled in Ecuador because it uses the U.S. dollar and has weak laws and institutions, along with a network of long-established gangs, including Los Choneros and Los Lobos, that are eager for work.

Ecuador gained prominence in the global cocaine trade after political changes in Colombia last decade. Coca bush fields in Colombia have been moving closer to Ecuador’s border due to the breakup of criminal groups after the 2016 demobilization of the rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Ecuador in July extradited to the U.S. the leader of Los Choneros, José Adolfo Macías Villamar. He escaped from an Ecuadorean prison last year and was recaptured in June, two months after being indicted in New York on charges he imported thousands of pounds of cocaine into the U.S.

Lee, Cano and Martin write for the Associated Press. Lee and Cano reported from Mexico City. AP writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., contributed to this report.

Barcelona, Spain – Volunteers from across the world have come together in the main hall of one of Spain’s oldest labour unions, the UGT – once a registration centre for international volunteers who came to Spain to fight fascism during the Spanish Civil War.

Now it has trained the nonviolent international volunteers – Palestine supporters, activists, journalists and politicians – who will sail on the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza on Sunday.

“We are not heroes. We are not the story. The story is the people of Gaza,” organiser Thiago Avila, a lifelong activist for Palestine and environmental justice, told the crowds gathered for a news conference before the ships set sail.

Their goal is to deliver humanitarian aid, which is the flotilla’s only cargo, and open a humanitarian corridor for Palestinians facing being starved and killed by Israel.

In less than two years of war, Israel has killed more than 63,000 Palestinians with tens of thousands more injured and missing.

Sailing into the uncertain

About 26,000 applications from people around the world came in and were whittled down to the hundreds who will be on board the roughly 100 flotilla boats.

The flotilla will start in Barcelona and head to Tunisia, where it will be joined by more vessels on Thursday.

Once out again on the Mediterranean Sea, it will converge with more boats leaving Italy and other undisclosed ports, and together they will sail in formation to the Gaza Strip.

Organisers know time is against them as Israel kills Palestinians daily, not only using air strikes and ground forces but also a man-made famine that it has imposed.

Since 2010, all freedom flotillas to Gaza have been intercepted or attacked by Israeli forces.

In June, the ship Madleen was illegally intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters about 185km (115 miles) west of Gaza, where Israel has no authority. Its crew, which included climate activist Greta Thunberg, were detained or expelled.

In 2010, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, made up of six ships carrying humanitarian aid and more than 600 passengers, was raided by Israeli commandos in Mediterranean waters.

The commandos killed 10 activists and wounded dozens.

Other attempts were blocked by Israel in 2011, 2015, 2018 and multiple attempts in 2025, including the Conscience, which was struck twice by drones 25km (14 nautical miles) off Malta.

An earlier attempt over land, called the Global March to Gaza, set out in June to deliver aid to Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

Many of those volunteers have regrouped in Tunisia to gather ships to join the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Determined volunteers

The Barcelona gathering reflected a wide international presence, including delegations from Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland and the United States.

The volunteers, some veterans of multiple flotillas, are focused on their collective purpose: to break Israel’s siege of Gaza and deliver aid to its people.

Training sessions in Barcelona were intense, designed to prepare participants for scenarios such as interception in international waters, arrest, imprisonment, deportation, violent assault or bureaucratic strategies to halt the departure of boats.

But the foundation of their preparation is maintaining nonviolence in any of these scenarios, something the organisers highlighted several times and warned that breaking from that principle would not be accepted.

Every volunteer has signed a strict code of conduct, committing to peaceful resistance and rejecting systems of oppression and exploitation throughout the mission.

Workshops also revisited the history of nonviolent struggle – from Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership in India’s independence movement to Rosa Parks’s defiance against racial segregation in the United States.

Among the participants was Luna Valentina, a 24-year-old Colombian volunteer. She is married to a Palestinian refugee and has lived in exile herself after being targeted in Colombia for her activism during mass protests against right-wing former President Ivan Duque.

The couple live in Jordan after facing racism in Europe as they tried to find somewhere to settle, she told Al Jazeera.

During the Global March to Gaza, Valentina joined other Colombians on the way to Rafah. She recalled the solidarity, strength and care she found among fellow Colombian female activists, some of whom will set sail with her now, and others who will support the mission from land.

Getting ready to set sail

On Friday, a three-day celebration of the volunteers and their mission began on Moll de la Fusta, a port walkway in Barcelona, as the countdown began for their departure.

It was a warm outpouring of support as sounds of drums filled the air, hundreds of Palestinian flags fluttered and crowds gathered for a festival of music, culture and art to show support for Palestinians in Gaza and for the volunteers of the flotilla.

What everyone is hoping for is that the ships will arrive on the coast of besieged Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid that Israel has blocked from entering.

For Avila, the father of a newborn, this flotilla continues a legacy: “I love my daughter so much, as the mothers and fathers in Gaza, and because of this love, … we cannot leave a world like this. We have to change the society that enables a genocide to happen,” he told Al Jazeera.

“I believe that anyone that is not dead inside dies a little bit with every child in Gaza that dies,” he added.

That sentiment was shared by an Australian mother of four who has also joined the flotilla. Her voice broke as she said: “No one should live and die like this. Everyone deserves the same dignity and freedom.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says ready to defend ‘sovereignty’ as US military deploys warships near country’s territorial waters.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said there was “no way” United States troops could invade his country as tension rises with Washington and a US naval force builds up in the Southern Caribbean near Venezuela’s territorial waters.

“There’s no way they can enter Venezuela,” Maduro said on Thursday, stating that his country was well prepared to defend its sovereignty as US warships arrive in the region in a so-called operation against Latin American drug cartels.

“Today, we are stronger than yesterday. Today, we are more prepared to defend peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Maduro said in a speech to troops, according to the state-run Venezuela News Agency.

Maduro made his comment as Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to protest the US military build-up.

“It’s a massive propaganda operation to justify what the experts call kinetic action – meaning military intervention in a country which is a sovereign and independent country and is no threat to anyone,” Moncada told reporters after meeting with Guterres.

“They are saying that they are sending a nuclear submarine … I mean, it’s ridiculous to think that they’re fighting drug trafficking with nuclear submarines,” the ambassador said.

Earlier on Thursday, Admiral Daryl Claude, the US Navy’s chief of naval operations, confirmed that US warships were deployed to waters off South America, citing concerns that some Venezuelans were participating in large-scale drug operations.

Seven US warships, along with one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, were either in the region or were expected to be there in the coming week, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency.

More than 4,500 US service members, including some 2,200 Marines, were also reported to be on board the ships in an operation that was launched after the Trump administration accused Maduro and other members of his government of links to cocaine trafficking.

Venezuela has responded to the US threats by sending warships and drones to patrol its coastline and launching a drive to recruit thousands of militia members to bolster domestic defences.

Caracas has also deployed 15,000 troops to its borders with Colombia to crack down on drug trafficking and other criminal gangs.

On Thursday, Maduro thanked Colombia for sending an additional 25,000 military personnel to the Colombia-Venezuela frontier to tackle “narco-terrorist gangs”, the Venezuela News Agency reported.

While the US has made no public threats to invade Venezuela, Trump’s threats against the country have focused chiefly on its powerful criminal gangs, particularly the cocaine trafficking Cartel de los Soles, which the Trump administration has designated a terrorist organisation and accused Maduro of leading.

Maduro has, in turn, accused Washington, which is offering a $50m reward for his capture over alleged drug offences, of seeking to implement regime change in Venezuela.

DONALD Trump sent warships to Venezuela as the country’s dictator Nicolas Maduro moved 15,000 troops to the border with Colombia.

Three US destroyers and 4,000 marines sailed to the coastline just weeks after the Washington administration announced a $50million bounty on the South American tyrant’s head.

6

6

6

6

A guided missile cruiser, the USS Erie, and a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine are also expected to reach the Caribbean coastline next week, a source confirmed.

The move comes as the US tries to officially crackdown on threats from Venezuela’s drug cartels, one of which officials accuse Maduro of spearheading.

In a bid to push US vessels out, the tyrant announced on Monday the deployment of 15,000 troops to Colombia, just a day before declaring the launch of his own fleet of vessels along the Caribbean coast.

In a video shared online, Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said this would include a “significant” number of drones, as well as naval patrols “further north in our territorial waters”.

The US deployment of vessels comes as the US President tries to squash  “narco-terrorist organizations” in the region.

During Trump’s first term in the office, Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials were indicted in federal court in New York on several charges including participating in a “narco-terrorism” conspiracy.

Investigators say Maduro’s cartel worked hand-in-hand with the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which the US has labeled a terrorist organization.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) “has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself,” Bondi said.

The US government has also seized more than $700 million in Maduro-linked assets, including two Venezuelan government aircraft, since September last year, according to Bondi.

GREEDY RULER

Elected by a narrow margin in March, 2013, Maduro has presided over the country for year as its problems skyrocket.

As his country suffered and starved, Maduro lived a life of luxury and reportedly racked up a fortune of £220million.

In 2018, he sparked outrage after being pictured enjoying a lavish meat banquet hosted by celebrity chef Salt Bae in Istanbul.

While Venezuelans can barely afford fresh meat, the president tucked into the infamous gold-crusted steaks.

“This is a once in a lifetime moment,” the president said as puffed on a cigar and ignored the widespread food shortage raging in his country.

Opposition leader Julio Borges, who fled Venezuela for fear of arrest, tweeted: “While Venezuelans suffer and die of hunger, Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores have a good time in one of the most expensive restaurants in the world, all with money stolen from the Venezuelan people.”

Only a few months earlier, his two stepsons Yoswal Gavidia Flores and Walter Gavidia Flores managed to blow £36,000 on an extravagant 18-night stay at the Ritz hotel in Paris.

The bill was equivalent to the monthly wages of 2,000 Venezuelans – a casual two weeks for the pair who frequently parade themselves around Europe’s most expensive restaurants and hotels.

And back at home, the president and his family can escape the chaos of their own making by hiding out in his luxury enclave in the capital, complete with its own bowling alley, swimming pools, lakes and restaurants.

Maduro and his so-called “dirty dozen” of top lieutenants live in fabulous estates which would not look out of place in the hills of Hollywood.

The five star bolthole is guarded by seven successive checkpoints and hundreds of heavily armed troops.

6

6

Venezuela’s defence minister says military vessels and drones will be sent to patrol the country’s coastline amid simmering tension with the United States after Washington deployed warships to waters off Venezuela to fight drug trafficking.

In a video on social media on Tuesday, Minister of Defence Vladimir Padrino announced a “significant” drone deployment as well as naval patrols along the country’s Caribbean coast, including “larger vessels further north in our territorial waters”.

The move comes after Washington last week deployed an amphibious squadron of three warships towards Venezuela’s coast in what it said was an operation against Latin American drug cartels.

News agencies reported on Monday that two more US ships – a guided missile cruiser and a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine – had also been dispatched to the Caribbean, and that some 4,500 US service members, including 2,200 Marines, were part of the deployment.

The US naval build-up comes after the administration of US President Donald Trump last week accused Venezuela’s left-wing president, Nicolas Maduro, of being involved in cocaine trafficking and working with drug cartels.

Washington also announced that it had doubled a reward for the capture or prosecution of Maduro on drug charges from $25m to $50m. The US is also offering a reward of $25m for the arrest or prosecution of Venezuelan Minister of the Popular Power for Interior Diosdado Cabello.

US officials have accused Maduro and members of his government of heading the Venezuelan cocaine trafficking cartel Cartel de los Soles, which Washington has designated a terrorist organisation .

Maduro has dismissed the accusations and accused the US of attempting to instigate regime change in his country.

Military build-up

On Monday, Maduro insisted during a weekly television show that his country, unlike neighbouring Colombia, is “free of coca leaf crops and free of cocaine production”.

Maduro, who has also criticised the US government for not addressing the drug consumption within its borders, has mobilised hundreds of thousands of local militia members to strengthen national security amid the threats from Washington.

Some 15,000 Venezuelan troops have also been dispatched to the country’s border with Colombia to crack down on criminal groups, including those involved in drug trafficking.

In a separate announcement on Tuesday, Defence Minister Padrino said an ongoing operation in Venezuela’s northeastern corner had resulted in the dismantling of shipyards where criminals intended “to manufacture semisubmersibles and boats to transport drugs by sea” to markets in Europe and North America.

The move to deploy US warships and personnel off Venezuela comes as Trump pushes for using the military to thwart cartels he blames for the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs into US communities, and for perpetuating violence in some US cities.

Venezuela’s mission to the United Nations denounced the US’s “escalation of hostile actions and threats” in a letter, local media outlet Noticias Venevision reported on Tuesday.

Referring to the imminent arrival of US ships off the coast, Venezuela told the UN that Washington’s actions were “a serious threat to regional peace and security”, while the presence of a nuclear-powered attack submarine was “a clear act of intimidation”.

The letter also demanded “guarantees” that the US would “not deploy or threaten to use nuclear weapons in the region”, Noticias Venevision reported.

Despite the military build-up, analysts have downplayed the possibility of a US invasion or US strikes on Venezuela, while many Venezuelan people have shrugged off the US threat as posturing, the AFP news agency reported.

Maduro, who claimed a third term in office following an election in July 2024, which was described as deeply flawed, has been in Trump’s sights ever since the US president’s first term, from 2017 to 2021.

But the US policy of maximum pressure on Venezuela, including an ongoing oil embargo, failed to dislodge Maduro from power.

“I think what we’re seeing represents an attempt to create anxiety in government circles and force Maduro to negotiate something,” International Crisis Group analyst Phil Gunson told the AFP regarding the building tension.

Defence minister says soldiers taken while evacuating area after a military operation that killed 11 rebels.

At least 34 government soldiers have been kidnapped by armed civilians in a jungle in southeastern Colombia after clashes that killed 11 fighters, including a commander of a dissident faction of the former FARC rebel group, Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez says.

The fighting occurred on Sunday in a rural part of the El Retorno municipality in the province of Guaviare and involved members of the Central General Staff (EMC), a group of former fighters with the left-wing FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who rejected a 2016 peace deal with the government.

Sanchez said on Tuesday that the soldiers were taken as they were evacuating the area after a military operation that killed an EMC commander and 10 other rebels.

“This is an illegal, criminal action by people in civilian clothing,” Sanchez told reporters. “This is a kidnapping.”

The jungle region is considered a strategic corridor for drug trafficking and is known for its extensive coca crops, the main ingredient used to produce cocaine.

It followed a similar abduction in June when the army said 57 soldiers were seized by civilians in a southwestern mountainous area, a key zone for cocaine production and one of the most tense in the country’s ongoing security crisis.

The Colombian army has maintained that the civilians in the region receive orders from the EMC, the main FARC dissident group.

Armed groups – which fund themselves through drug trafficking, illegal mining and other crimes – remain present in Colombia after a six-decade conflict that has killed more than 450,000 people despite the peace deal with the FARC nine years ago when it was Colombia’s largest rebel group.

Last week, at least 18 people were killed and dozens injured in two attacks attributed to dissident FARC factions.

In Cali, the country’s third most populous city, a vehicle packed with explosives detonated on Thursday near a military aviation school, killing six people and injuring 71, according to the mayor’s office.

Hours earlier, a National Police Black Hawk helicopter participating in a coca crop eradication operation was downed by a drone in the municipality of Amalfi in the department of Antioquia, killing 12 police officers.

President Gustavo Petro blamed the attacks on dissident factions of FARC.

The United States warships are approaching Venezuelan waters in the southern Caribbean as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to fight drug trafficking, reports said.

The Trump administration has accused Venezuela’s left-wing President Nicolas Maduro of being involved in cocaine trafficking and working with drug cartels. On August 7, the US Departments of State and Justice doubled the reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro to $50m after accusing him of being “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world”.

In response, Maduro has urged millions of Venezuelans to join militias, saying, “No empire will touch the sacred soil of Venezuela.”

On Monday, the Venezuelan government announced that it is sending 15,000 troops to its border with Colombia to fight drug trafficking, amid growing pressure from the Trump administration.

So why are the US warships heading to Venezuelan waters, and how is it being seen in Latin American nations, including Venezuela?

Why is the Trump administration sending navy warships to Venezuelan waters?

Multiple news reports say that the Trump administration has dispatched navy warships to the southern Caribbean, saying that these missions are intended to counter threats to US national security posed by organisations in the region that the US has designated as “narco-terrorist organizations.”

The New York Times reported last month that Trump signed a secret directive ordering the Pentagon to use military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that the US has deemed foreign “terrorist” organisations.

On Monday, the Reuters news agency reported that the US ordered additional ships to the southern Caribbean, citing two sources familiar with the deployment.

The sources told Reuters, on the condition of anonymity, that the USS Lake Erie, a guided missile cruiser and the USS Newport News, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, will arrive in the region by early next week.

Last week, multiple news agencies reported that three US Aegis-class guided missile destroyers were headed to Venezuelan waters.

According to two individuals briefed on the deployment – who anonymously spoke to Reuters – the USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima and USS Fort Lauderdale were headed towards the Venezuelan coast, carrying 4,500 US service members, including 2,200 Marines.

In both the reports, Reuters said that the unnamed sources refrained from disclosing the specific objectives of the deployments but indicated that recent military movements were intended to address threats to US national security posed by designated “narco-terrorist organizations.”

On August 14, the US Fleet Forces Command published a news release saying that sailors and Marines assigned to the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group had departed from Norfolk, Virginia and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The news release does not explicitly state details of the mission or specify where the group is being deployed.

The release says, “More than 4,500 Sailors and Marines from the 22nd MEU comprise the force aboard the ARG’s three amphibious ships: flagship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), and the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships USS San Antonio (LPD 17) and USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28).”

Reporters asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt about the possibility of US boots on the ground in Venezuela on August 19. In response, she said, “President [Donald] Trump has been very clear and consistent. He’s prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.”

Leavitt reiterated that the US does not recognise Maduro’s administration as the legitimate government of Venezuela. Maduro won last year’s disputed election. The US and Venezuela have not had a formal diplomatic relationship since 2019.

How is Trump cracking down on drug trafficking?

On his inauguration day on January 21, Trump signed an executive order designating international drug cartels as foreign “terrorist” organisations.

“In certain portions of Mexico, they function as quasi-governmental entities,” the order says. Mexico opposed the order because it created the threat of US military action against the country.

In response, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her government will cooperate with the US to fight drug trafficking, but opposed US intervention on Mexico’s territory. “What we insist on is the defence of our sovereignty and our independence,” she said back in January.

Trump also accused Canada and Mexico of failing to prevent fentanyl, a highly addictive synthetic opioid, from entering the US –  although he has not furnished proof for his claims.

After Trump threatened tariffs on Mexican imports, Sheinbaum deployed 10,000 National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border to help regulate immigration.

On February 20, the US State Department designated eight international cartels as foreign terrorist organisations, including Mexico-based Cartel del Golfo, Sinaloa Cartel, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Carteles Unidos, La Nueva Familia Michoacana and Cartel del Noreste, California-based Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua.

Later in February, Mexico handed over 29 drug cartel leaders to the US.

What has the US accused Maduro of?

US officials accused both Maduro and Venezuelan Minister of Popular Power for Interior Diosdado Cabello of collaborating with the Cartel de los Soles (“Cartel of the Suns”), a drug trafficking organisation that Washington has designated as a “terrorist” group. Cabello, like Maduro, is part of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

Maduro has rejected the Trump administration’s accusations earlier. The US government has not provided any evidence linking Maduro to drug cartels.

The US announced earlier this month that it had doubled the reward for Maduro’s capture on drug charges to $50m. In a video on August 7, US Attorney General Pam Bondi also accused Maduro of collaborating with the Venezuelan crime syndicate Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. “He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world,” Bondi said about Maduro.

Today, @TheJusticeDept and @StateDept are announcing a $50 MILLION REWARD for information leading to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. pic.twitter.com/D8LNqjS9yk

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 7, 2025

Earlier this year, the US also raised the reward for the arrest or prosecution of Cabello from $10m to $25m.

During Trump’s first term in 2020, Maduro and his close allies were indicted in Manhattan federal court on federal charges of “narco-terrorism” and conspiracy to import cocaine. Back then, Washington offered a $15mm reward for his arrest. The administration of US President Joe Biden increased this bounty to $25m.

How has the Venezuelan government responded?

On Monday, Cabello announced that Caracas will send 15,000 troops to strengthen security in the border states of Zulia and Tachira, which border Colombia.

“Here, we do fight drug trafficking; here, we do fight drug cartels on all fronts,” the minister said, while also announcing the seizure of 53 tonnes of drugs so far this year.

Cabello stated that the enhanced security measures along the border with Colombia, aimed at “combating criminal groups,” will also include the deployment of aircraft, drones and riverine security, according to local media outlet Noticias Venevision. Cabello urged Colombian authorities to take similar steps to “ensure peace along the entire axis.”

Referring to the deployment of US warships on Venezuelan waters, Maduro said, “From the north, the empire has gone mad and, like a rotten rehash, has renewed its threats to the peace and stability of Venezuela,” Caracas-based news network, Globovision reported.

“We are not fakes nor drug traffickers, and we will defend the dignity of beloved Venezuela,” Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez told a crowd of military recruits over the weekend.

How have Venezuelan opposition leaders responded?

Opposition figure Marina Corina Machado called Maduro the “head of the Cartel of the Sun,” in an X post on Monday. Machado was disqualified weeks before last year’s election.

But opposition leader Henrique Capriles warned against an act of force against Venezuela. “We firmly express our rejection of any act of force against Venezuela, regardless of its origin. The sovereignty of our country is sacred and must be unconditionally respected. The United Nations Charter and International Law clearly establish that no State can attack another, as it would result in the loss of human lives,” he posted on X.

Capriles, who lost to Maduro in the 2013 presidential election, added that regional peace must be defended.

“The government, currently in power, has the duty to open the doors and create the mechanisms necessary to prevent our crisis from worsening further.”

Juan Guaido, the West-backed interim president between 2019 and 2022, supported the actions taken by the United States against Venezuelan cartels. “The Cartel of the Suns and the Tren de Aragua have already been designated as terrorist organizations. Their leader is not hidden in the shadows: his name is Nicolas Maduro, a dictator responsible for this criminal network that drains Venezuela and threatens the entire region,” he posted a statement on X on Monday.

What have other Latin American leaders said?

Mexico’s Sheinbaum said earlier this month that her government does not have any evidence linking Maduro to the Sinaloa Cartel, which is based in her country and is named after the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

On the other hand, the office of the president of Paraguay, Santiago Pena Palacios, posted a statement on X on Friday declaring the “Cartel of the Suns” a foreign terrorist organisation.

Two more US ships said to join amphibious squadron due to arrive off coast of Venezuela in anti-drug cartel operation.

Venezuela has announced the deployment of 15,000 troops to its border with Colombia to fight drug trafficking, as the United States was reported to have sent two additional navy ships to the southern Caribbean as part of an operation against Latin American drug cartels.

Venezuelan Minister of the Popular Power for Interior Diosdado Cabello announced on Monday that Caracas would deploy 15,000 troops to bolster security in Zulia and Tachira states, which border Colombia.

“Here, we do fight drug trafficking; here, we do fight drug cartels on all fronts,” the minister said, while also announcing the seizure of 53 tonnes of drugs so far this year.

Cabello said the increased security on the border with Colombia, to “combat criminal groups”, would also involve aircraft, drones and riverine security, according to local media outlet Noticias Venevision, as he called on Colombian authorities to do the same to “ensure peace along the entire axis”.

The reinforcement of Venezuelan troops on the Colombian border comes after the Trump administration accused Venezuela’s left-wing president, Nicolas Maduro, of being involved in cocaine trafficking and working with drug cartels.

Officials in Washington, DC, have accused both Maduro and Cabello of working with the Cartel de los Soles (“Cartel of the Suns”) drug trafficking organisation, which Washington has designated a terrorist group.

The accusations were made as the US announced last week that it had doubled a reward to $50m for the capture of Maduro on drug charges. The US earlier this year increased a reward for Cabello’s arrest or prosecution from $10m to $25m.

Maduro has accused the US of attempting to foment regime change in Venezuela, and launched a nationwide drive to sign up thousands of militia members to strengthen national security in the country amid the threats from Washington.

“I am confident that we will overcome this test that life has imposed on us, this imperialist threat to the peace of the continent and to our country,” Maduro was quoted as saying in local media on Monday.

The Reuters news agency also reported on Monday that the USS Lake Erie, a guided missile cruiser, and the USS Newport News, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, will arrive in the southern Caribbean by early next week.

Citing two sources briefed on the deployment, Reuters said the missile cruiser and attack submarine would join the US amphibious squadron that was due to arrive off the coast of Venezuela on Sunday.

The squadron includes the USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima and USS Fort Lauderdale, and is said to be carrying 4,500 US service members, including 2,200 Marines, according to reports.

Trump has made the targeting of Latin American drug cartels a central focus of his administration, and has designated Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and other drug gangs, including Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua, as global terrorist organisations.