Naval attack group deployed to Venezuela

[UltraBudgie]

The sudden deployment of a US naval attack group toward the coast of Venezuela is raising fears of an expensive new military conflict in Latin America.

The legal cover for the tasking of the seven warships, surveillance aircraft, 2200 Marines and a nuclear attack submarine is an executive order in January 2025 and subsequent reclassification of eight organised crime syndicates as foreign terrorist organisations for the first time.

In May 2025 Secretary of State Marco Rubio was concurrently appointed National Security Advisor—the first time since Henry Kissinger that someone has held both roles.

The decision in early August 2025 to deploy the US military against “narco-terrorists” potentially leaves strikes by these forces outside Congressional authority.

The US expedition has galvanised opposition around the region, with the Latin American and Caribbean trading bloc ALBA-TCP issuing a communique describing the military escalation as “a direct attack on Venezuela's independence, but also a threat to the stability and self-determination of all the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Samuel Moncada, Venezuela's ambassador to the U.N described the deployment as “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....it's ridiculous to think that they're fighting drug trafficking with nuclear submarines.”

https://x.com/wikileaks/status/1961798873321447899

Now why could this be?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co...l_reserves

Hmm.

[UltraBudgie]

Axios has some more perspective:

Driving the news: President Trump ordered seven warships carrying 4,500 personnel — including three guided-missile destroyers and at least one attack submarine — to the waters off Venezuela.

Officially, they're there to combat drug trafficking. But Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt leaned into the ambiguity of the mission on Thursday, noting that the U.S. considers Maduro the "fugitive head of [a] drug cartel" and not Venezuela's legitimate president.

So, it can't be regime change if the head of the regime is actually a drug cartel, then it's simply "combating drug trafficking".

What they're saying: "This is 105% about narco-terrorism, but if Maduro winds up no longer in power, no one will be crying," said one Trump administration official familiar with the policy discussions.

Another administration official had a different view. "This could be Noriega part 2," the official said, referring to the U.S. military's 1989 operation to capture Panamanian President Manuel Noriega, who — like Maduro — faced U.S. drug-trafficking charges.

"The president has asked for a menu of options. And ultimately, this is the president's decision about what to do next, but Maduro should be shitting bricks," the official said.

A third Trump adviser put it this way: "Leaving Maduro in power in Venezuela is like making Jeffrey Epstein the head of a daycare."

The extra 5% is the legal requirement to claim it's about narco-terrorism, and not regime change or oil.

https://www.axios.com/2025/08/29/venezue...ime-change

[UltraBudgie]

https://x.com/Acyn/status/1667682589333659648


https://x.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1668680877096747008

From Axios:

Maduro's fellow leftist ally, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, said Monday on X that "the Cartel of the Suns does not exist; it is the fictitious excuse of the extreme right to overthrow governments that do not obey them." Petro on Thursday amplified a Russian media report accusing the U.S. of wanting to take Venezuela's oil, and announced he was beefing up his military's presence along a portion of the border Colombia shares with Venezuela.

Those pesky Russians, with their absurd conspiracy theories that the U.S. wants to take Venezuela's oil!

[Unknownparadox]

7 years ago trump blasted Germany for nord stream 2 pipe line deal. 3 years ago biden blew up nord stream 2. biden made America the number 1 producer of oil. Never mind all that save the planet from oil stuff. Even putting in a duel super oil tanker port off Texas. 22 years ago America invaded Iraq. Where the weapons of mass destruction was. "They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."

I am sure all of this stuff has nothing to do with controlling the energy supply.

[IDELB2006]

Axios has some more perspective:


So, it can't be regime change if the head of the regime is actually a drug cartel, then it's simply "combating drug trafficking".


The extra 5% is the legal requirement to claim it's about narco-terrorism, and not regime change or oil.

https://www.axios.com/2025/08/29/venezue...ime-change

 Axios has some more perspective:


So, it can't be regime change if the head of the regime is actually a drug cartel, then it's simply "combating drug trafficking".


The extra 5% is the legal requirement to claim it's about narco-terrorism, and not regime change or oil.

https://www.axios.com/2025/08/29/venezue...ime-change

With this group it is hard to tell if they have lost all operational security, or if they are just talking smack to rile up the Venezuelans.

If this was truly about drug trafficking, I would think it would be fairly easy to show a few drug bust of shipments Coming from Venezuela.

[Tecate]

Bahahaha! Yeah it’s about the “Drug trafficking” !!

Oh man that is hilarious. No, no, it’s definitely not about the oil…..

What a hoot to watch when it’s so blatant.

Thanks for the laughs Budgie!!

Tecate

[Bootless]

There are a couple of problems:

1) Trump has ended the drug flow into the U.S. with his hermetically sealed border policy.
2) "         "    "        "     " terrorist cartel activity "    "     "                "         "        " 
3) Trump said in a speech that the U.S. has so so so much oil that we can suck it out, put it on the World market and all of us can be stinking rich.

So I guess Trump is completely ignorant of strategic value of keeping oil reserves. Maybe someone showed him a picture book presentation or something. "Keep what you have and take other country's oil."

I would suspect that the plan is to kill the present dictator and install a new one who has already made a deal with Trump to let U.S. oil companies take all the oil. The new guy might be in the sub for all we know.

----
The U.S. is 10th for known oil reserves and it will be gone in 15 years at current sucking rate. (according to the wiki chart)

[andy06shake]

Well, the official story surrounding the deployment is framed as a counter-narcotics op.

Apparently aimed at the Latin American drug trafficking networks, particularly those linked to Venezuela.

Just another distraction from the Epstein files if you ask me, and an expensive one at that.

There is no real war on drugs, and for every operation you see or shipment seized, 10 more go by or ""unoticed."" by design. 

Too much money and profit to be had off the books, and it's not billions but trillions.

[UltraBudgie]

If this was truly about drug trafficking, I would think it would be fairly easy to show a few drug bust of shipments Coming from Venezuela.

Looks like we're past of point of feeling like we need to do that.

Boom!

[IDELB2006]

Looks like we're past of point of feeling like we need to do that.

Boom!

Blowing stuff up is cool.

Is it easier to tell if they are trafficking drugs based on the debris field?