The United States’ recent maritime strikes against drug-running vessels off Venezuela were a long-overdue show of force in defense of American lives and communities, not an act of reckless aggression. President Trump and his national security team refused to sit idly by while narco-terrorists used the Caribbean as a killing and poisoning ground for our citizens. The strike that killed members of an alleged trafficking gang marked a decisive shift from endless talk to concrete action.
For months U.S. forces have ramped up patrols and operations across the southern Caribbean to choke off the smuggling routes that feed addiction and crime in our neighborhoods, and those operations have included lethal strikes when interdiction was impossible. This response follows reports of multiple interdictions and targeted strikes in international waters intended to break transnational narco networks that operate with impunity out of Venezuela. Americans who have watched drugs ravage families should welcome a government that acts instead of pontificates.
Across the Gulf of Paria, Trinidadians who live seven miles from Venezuela have felt the threat firsthand, seeing fast boats and fearful fishermen who watch foreign criminals use their waters as an express lane for poison. Local authorities in Trinidad and Tobago have tightened patrols and the Coast Guard presence to protect their citizens from spillover violence and trafficking that crosses their shores. Small island nations deserve our respect and security partnerships, not lectures from distant critics who haven’t borne the cost of cartel violence.
Venezuela’s regime predictably screamed “illegal” and “provocation,” and the Maduro government mobilized rhetoric and militia posturing instead of cleaning out the criminal groups festering in its ports. Caracas even questioned the authenticity of U.S. footage and sought to muddy the waters while allowing gangs like Tren de Aragua to flourish under its watch. That defensive posture from a corrupt regime should surprise no one; dictators deflect accountability by attacking the messenger.
Of course human rights activists and international bureaucrats immediately denounced the strikes as extrajudicial, trotting out legal niceties while ignoring sober realities on the ground. The United States faces a stark choice: keep treating drug trafficking as a garden-variety crime when cartels act like paramilitary forces, or accept that decisive, targeted action is sometimes necessary to protect citizens. Those calling for softness should answer the families of overdose victims who want concrete results, not moralizing press releases.
This is a moment for American leadership, not finger-wagging from the diplomatic peanut gallery. If our commanders and intelligence officers have credible evidence that vessels are ferrying vast quantities of narcotics and supporting terror-designated groups, then the priority must be to stop the flow and save lives here at home. Weakness invites worse aggression; strength restores order and deters those who think the Western Hemisphere is a lawless playground.
Hardworking Americans deserve a government that defends them — on the border, on the seas, and in the courtroom of international opinion. We should back smartly targeted actions, bolster regional partnerships to secure Caribbean waters, and demand that neighboring regimes either act against criminals in their midst or stop exporting instability. Let those who cheer on the cartels explain to grieving parents why they oppose measures that actually protect our communities.
