Venezuela

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Feds Charge Smartmatic With Money Laundering

Prosecutors say the voting technology firm greased election officials' palms in Philippines to tune of $1M

(Newser) - Federal prosecutors have charged voting technology firm Smartmatic with money laundering and other crimes arising from more than $1 million in bribes that several executives allegedly paid to election officials in the Philippines. The payments, between 2015 and 2018, were made to obtain a contract with the Philippines government to...

Southern Command's Boss Quits as Pentagon Sends Forces

Adm. Alvin Holsey has held the job, overseeing the area that includes the boat strikes, for less than a year

(Newser) - The head of the US Southern Command, whose job includes overseeing military operations in the area where the Pentagon has been carrying out fatal strikes on what the Trump administration describes as drug-running boats, announced Thursday that he's leaving the position. Adm. Alvin Holsey has been in the...

Trump Confirms CIA Covert Ops in Venezuela

But president won't say if he gave the green light to 'take out' Maduro

(Newser) - President Trump has confirmed authorizing covert CIA operations in Venezuela. Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Trump also floated the idea of military strikes against drug cartels there, citing two motivations: claims that Venezuela has "emptied their prisons into the United States" and ongoing concerns about narcotics...

Trump Announces Another Deadly Strike in Caribbean

He says 6 were killed in small boat 'just off the coast of Venezuela'

(Newser) - The United States struck another small boat accused of carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela, killing six people, President Trump said Tuesday. Those who died in the strike were aboard the vessel, and no US forces were harmed, Trump said in a Truth Social post. It's the fifth deadly...

Venezuela Shuts Norway Embassy After Nobel for 'Witch'

Move follows Peace Prize for opposition leader Machado

(Newser) - Venezuela has shut down its embassy in Norway just days after opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . The Venezuelan government did not mention Machado's award in its official statement, instead framing the closure as part of a broader restructuring of its foreign service....

Peace Prize Winner on Call: 'I Certainly Do Not Deserve This'

Nobel award recognized Maria Corina Machado's fight for democracy in Venezuela

(Newser) - Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado learned early Friday that she'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in an emotional phone call, captured on video , from Kristian Berg Harpviken of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. "Oh my God," Machado told Harpviken, per CBS News . "I am...

Venezuela Warns of 'False Flag' Plot to Attack US Embassy

Maduro ally says security has been stepped up

(Newser) - Venezuela warned Monday of an alleged plan by extremists to attack the shuttered US Embassy complex in Caracas with explosives, coming as bilateral tensions simmer over Washington's military deployment in the Caribbean. Jorge Rodríguez, head of the National Assembly and of Venezuela's delegation for dialogue with the...

Hegseth: Military Destroyed Another Boat, Killing 4 Aboard
US Strike Kills 4 Off Venezuela
Oct 3, 2025 4:55 PM CDT

US Strike Kills 4 Off Venezuela

Hegseth provides no evidence that boat was carrying narcotics

(Newser) - The US military killed four men on a boat in international waters near Venezuela on Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in a post, claiming without presenting evidence that the vessel was involved in smuggling narcotics and those on board were linked to terrorist organizations. It was the fourth...

Pentagon Looks at Options to Strike Venezuelan Drug Targets

Operation could begin in weeks, insiders say

(Newser) - The Pentagon is working on plans to attack drug traffickers inside Venezuela, an operation that could begin in weeks, people familiar with the operation told NBC News . President Trump posted last weekend that military had destroyed a boat in the Caribbean that he said was carrying narco-traffickers and drugs for...

Colombia's President Slams US Boat Strikes as 'Murder'

Petro demands answers as US strikes spark legal and ethical debate

(Newser) - Colombian President Gustavo Petro has labeled recent US airstrikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean as an "act of tyranny," raising pointed questions about their legality and human cost. In a BBC interview , Petro argued that using military force against such vessels—reportedly resulting in 17...

Trump Says Military Carried Out 2nd Strike on Venezuelan Boat

President says strike killed '3 male terrorists'

(Newser) - President Trump announced that the US military again targeted a boat he says was carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three aboard the vessel.
  • "This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the
...

Venezuela Disputes US Claim on Boat Strike That Killed 11

Caracas rejects US drug claims as military tensions escalate

(Newser) - Venezuela says none of the 11 people killed in last week's US military boat strike in the Caribbean were members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang—despite US assertions to the contrary. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced on state TV that local investigations found no link to...

In Venezuela, It's Christmas in October

Nicolas Maduro moves up the holiday to Oct. 1, citing the need to boost his country's need for 'joy'

(Newser) - Nicolas Maduro is bringing good tidings to Venezuelans early this year, with Christmas festivities kicking off on Oct. 1—months ahead of the traditional December date. Maduro says the early kickoff is meant to inject some "joy" into a country facing mounting tensions with the United States, reports...

Rand Paul Says Vance Remarks Show 'Disdain for Human Life'

VP calls strike on Venezuelan boat 'best use of our military'; GOP senator slams lack of due process

(Newser) - Sen. Rand Paul publicly rebuked Vice President JD Vance after Vance praised a US military strike that destroyed a Venezuelan boat allegedly used by drug traffickers, killing 11 people. Vance had identified those on the boat as "cartel members" and called the attack the "highest and best...

Court: Trump Can't Use 1798 Law to Justify Deportations

Judges say mass migration does not equal armed invasion in 2-1 ruling

(Newser) - A federal appeals court has ruled against the Trump administration's attempt to use a centuries-old wartime law to quickly deport Venezuelan migrants, a move that will likely push the case to the Supreme Court. In a 2-1 decision, the Fifth Circuit panel ruled the administration's claim—that...

Trump: US Strike on Boat From Venezuela Killed 11

There was 'a lot of drugs in that boat,' he says

(Newser) - A US strike on a boat from Venezuela killed 11 "terrorists," President Trump said Tuesday. The military strike on the vessel in the Caribbean is the first known action of its kind since the US sent warships to the area last month, reports Reuters . "We just, over...

Maduro Warns US Not to Pursue Regime Change

American force is deployed off Caribbean coast

(Newser) - With the US assembling a force off its Caribbean coast, Venezuela's president accused the American government on Monday of pursuing a regime change in his country. Trump administration officials have said the goal of the deployment is to combat Latin American drug cartels; Venezuelans officials call that a pretense....

With US Warships on the Way, Venezuela Reacts

It ups naval patrols following Trump's decision to send destroyers to region

(Newser) - Tensions are ratcheting up along Venezuela's Caribbean coast following President Trump's decision to send three US guided-missile destroyers and 4,000 Marines to the region. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino on Tuesday announced enhanced patrols in the region, including "larger vessels further north in our territorial...

US Sends Destroyers Toward Venezuela to Pressure Cartels
US Destroyers Head
Toward Venezuela
Aug 19, 2025 6:00 PM CDT

US Destroyers Head Toward Venezuela

Deployment is part of Trump's effort against Latin American drug cartels

(Newser) - The US is deploying three Aegis guided-missile destroyers to the waters off Venezuela as part of President Trump's effort to combat threats from Latin American drug cartels, according to an American official briefed on the planning. The USS Gravely, the USS Jason Dunham, and the USS Sampson are expected...

Trump OKs Military Action on Latin American Drug Cartels

Move signals a shift from law enforcement to military involvement

(Newser) - President Trump has quietly authorized the Pentagon to use military force against certain Latin American drug cartels, stepping up an already aggressive push to label these organizations as foreign terrorist threats. The directive, confirmed to the New York Times by sources familiar with internal discussions, paves the way for...

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