**Published Oct 15, 2025 • 1 minute read**
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Venezuela’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, has stated that members of the country’s civilian militia are preparing to confront potential military aggression from the United States.
**Photo by Juan BARRETO /AFP/File**
**WASHINGTON** — On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that he is contemplating land strikes against Venezuelan cartels, following a series of deadly maritime operations targeting boats suspected of transporting drugs.
“We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the possibility of land strikes.
However, Trump did not confirm a report from The New York Times suggesting that he had secretly authorized the CIA to undertake covert actions in Venezuela against Maduro’s administration. When asked if he had given the CIA the green light to “take out” Maduro, Trump responded, “That’s a ridiculous question for me to be given. Not really a ridiculous question, but wouldn’t it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?”
Venezuela is taking these threats—both overt and covert—seriously. Under Maduro’s direction, military exercises were conducted along the entire Atlantic Caribbean coast of Venezuela on Tuesday, with additional military activities planned in states bordering Colombia.
In a message on the social media platform Telegram, Maduro announced the mobilization of the military, police, and a civilian militia to protect Venezuela’s “mountains, coasts, schools, hospitals, factories, and markets.”
On Tuesday, Trump reported that another strike on boats allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela resulted in the deaths of six “narcoterrorists.” To date, at least 27 individuals have been killed in U.S. operations. Legal experts have raised concerns about the legality of using lethal force in foreign or international waters against suspects who have not been intercepted or questioned.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has suggested that some of those killed may have been Colombian nationals. Trump has accused Maduro of leading a drug cartel, a claim that Maduro vehemently denies. In August, ahead of escalating military actions, the U.S. Justice Department increased the bounty for information leading to Maduro’s capture to $50 million.
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