Archiv: 08-2025: US miltary build-up near Venezuela / airstrikes on civil vessels in Caribbean and Pacific / fishermen from several countries killed / US threats also against Colombia / Caribbean War scenario


18.12.2025 - 08:05 [ Trinidad and Tobago Guardian ]

Not in that: PM says T&T not involved in US blockade against Venezuela

“They have asked for no as­sis­tance about blockad­ing in Venezuela, no, they have not,” Per­sad-Bisses­sar said af­ter at­tend­ing the fu­ner­al for for­mer col­league Daphne Phillips.

(,,,)

When asked about Trinidad and To­ba­go’s po­si­tion should any US mil­i­tary strikes oc­cur, Per­sad-Bisses­sar stressed that the Gov­ern­ment’s pri­or­i­ty is to keep the coun­try safe. She made it clear that T&T has no ag­gres­sive in­tent to­wards Venezuela.

“T and T first, that will al­ways be our po­si­tion. We have no in­ten­tion of en­gag­ing in any war with Venezuela. I’ve al­ways said we stand in sol­i­dar­i­ty with the peo­ple of Venezuela and we will con­tin­ue so to do.”

18.12.2025 - 04:44 [ U.S. Representative Jim McGovern ]

House Rejects McGovern’s Bipartisan War Powers Resolution, Shamefully Surrendering More Power to the White House

WASHINGTON—Today, House Republicans (and sadly, one spineless Democrat) shamefully rejected Congressman McGovern‘s War Powers Resolution, which would have directed President Trump to cease all hostilities within or against Venezuela.

“I’m furious that cowardly lawmakers have once again surrendered Congress’ Constitutional responsibility on matters of war to a wannabe dictator in the White House,” said Ranking Member McGovern. “The Founders intentionally did not want any president to have unilateral power to start a war, much less one like Donald Trump, who campaigned on ending unnecessary foreign conflicts. He‘s now breaking that promise—and his weak, pathetic lackeys in Congress are letting him drag us into yet another endless war that no one except their billionaire buddies in Big Oil want.”

18.12.2025 - 04:15 [ United States Representative Gregory Meeks ]

House Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Meeks‘ Floor Debate Remarks on War Powers Resolution to Prohibit Hostilities Against Venezuela

„As I said earlier today on this floor, during the debate on my War Powers Resolution to end this administration’s extrajudicial strikes on boats in the Western Hemisphere, those bombings are not about drugs. If the administration did want to stop drugs, Trump would not have pardoned the former President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, or Ross Ulbricht, who operated the Silk Road drug marketplace. He wouldn’t be seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Or threatening CIA operations, blockades, and ground strikes on Venezuela.

„It’s not about drugs, it’s about regime change, and it’s about oil. That’s not just me saying that. It’s Trump himself saying it. It’s President Trump’s Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, who said Trump wants to, and I quote, “keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.” And it relies on the magical thinking that military force can bring democracy in Venezuela or anywhere else.

„But his chief of staff also conceded, as any reasonable person with any knowledge of the constitution should, that if Trump, quote, “were to authorize some activity on land, then it’s war, then [we’d need] Congress.”

„On that, she’s right. Congress would need to pass an Authorization for the Use of Military Force if Trump wanted to put boots on the ground or conduct military strikes on Venezuela. And for that, Republicans in Congress would need to cast their vote on whether to commit U.S. armed forces to an open-ended conflict their constituents certainly do not want.

„Trump ran on ending forever wars, but now he’s forgotten what they are. What his own Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth characterized as, quote, “interventionism, undefined wars, regime change, and feckless nation building.” Yet with Venezuela, Trump is provoking a new war right in our backyard and threatening to destabilize an entire region.

18.12.2025 - 03:46 [ theIntercept.com ]

Congress Squanders Last Chance to Block Venezuela War Before Going on Vacation

“Americans do not want another Iraq. If we intensify hostilities in Venezuela, we have no idea what we’re walking into,” McGovern said. “At least George Bush had the decency to come to Congress for approval in 2002. Don’t the American people deserve that respect today?”

Bush in 2002 sought and received a formal authorization for his attack on Iraq. Without taking any similar steps, Trump has massed thousands of American service members in the Caribbean without formal approval.

18.12.2025 - 03:03 [ Common Dreams ]

‘Absolute Dereliction of Duty’: House Republicans Kill Venezuela War Powers Resolutions

The resolution was defeated 210-216, with seven lawmakers not voting. Two Republicans—Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Thomas Massie of Kentucky—voted in favor of the measure. Democratic Texas Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez joined their GOP colleagues in voting down the proposal.

The second resolution, introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), would have directed Trump to “remove the use of United States armed forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization for use of military force.”

The resolution failed by a vote of 211-213, with nine members not voting. Republicans Bacon, Massie, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia voted “yes” on the legislation, while Cuellar voted against the proposal.

18.12.2025 - 02:16 [ NPR.org ]

Senate passes $901 billion defense bill that pushes Hegseth for boat strike video

But overall, the bill represents a compromise between the parties. It implements many of Trump‘s executive orders and proposals on eliminating diversity and inclusion efforts in the military and grants emergency military powers at the U.S. border with Mexico. It also enhances congressional oversight of the Department of Defense, repeals several years-old war authorizations and seeks to overhaul how the Pentagon purchases weapons as the U.S. tries to outpace China in developing the next generation of military technology.

18.12.2025 - 02:13 [ Reuters ]

Sweeping US defense bill passes, with Ukraine, Venezuela provisions defying Trump

And it has a provision to withhold a chunk of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth‘s travel budget if he does not provide Congress with unedited videos of military strikes on boats in the southern Caribbean and eastern Pacific. The Trump administration has said the strikes are directed at Venezuelan drug-traffickers.

The Senate vote came a day after Trump ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, his latest move to increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro‘s government.

It repeals the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMFs) against Iraq, an attempt to reassert Congress‘ role in deciding to send troops into combat.

17.12.2025 - 05:20 [ CNC3.co.tt ]

Two Caribbean countries added to new U.S. travel restrictions

Two Caribbean countries—Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica—are now subject to new United States travel restrictions under a proclamation signed by President Donald Trump, citing concerns over screening, vetting and citizenship by investment programmes.

17.12.2025 - 04:42 [ Trinidad Express ]

US gets green light …Military aircraft to use local airports

“In keeping with established bilateral cooperation, the ministry has granted approvals for United States military aircraft to transit Trinidad and Tobago’s airports in the coming weeks,” Monday’s release stated.

17.12.2025 - 04:35 [ ABC News ]

Hegseth says Pentagon won’t release video of strike on drug boat survivors to public

At issue is whether the Sept. 2 military strike on the alleged drug boat amounted to a war crime, as some lawmakers have suggested. Officials have confirmed there were four military strikes against the boat — the first strike killing nine of the 11 people aboard. Some 40 minutes later, a second strike was ordered to kill the remaining two survivors. Two more strikes were ordered to sink the boat, officials say.

Trump initially said he would release the video, telling reporters on Dec. 3 “whatever they have, we’d certainly release, no problem.” Trump later backtracked, saying he would defer to Hegseth.

17.12.2025 - 03:55 [ Fox News ]

Trump declares ‚Venezuelan regime‘ a foreign terrorist organization, orders oil tanker blockade

President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a total blockade of oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, declaring the Nicolás Maduro regime a foreign terrorist organization and accusing it of using stolen U.S. assets to finance terrorism, trafficking and other criminal activity.

„Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,“ Trump said on Truth Social. „It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before – Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.

17.12.2025 - 03:48 [ NPR.org ]

U.S. military says strikes on 3 boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean kill 8 people

(December 16, 2025)

The military said in a statement on social media that the strikes targeted „designated terrorist organizations,“ killing three people in the first vessel, two in the second boat and three in the third boat. It didn‘t provide evidence of their alleged drug trafficking but posted a video of a boat moving through water before exploding.

17.12.2025 - 03:13 [ Antiwar.com ]

House To Vote This Week on Bill To Block Trump From Launching a War With Venezuela

(December 15, 2025)

The House is expected to vote on Thursday on a bipartisan War Powers Resolution aimed at blocking President Trump from launching an attack on Venezuela amid a major US military buildup in the Caribbean and threats of a regime change war to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

15.12.2025 - 02:41 [ New York Times ]

Behind the Seized Venezuelan Tanker, Cuba’s Secret Lifeline

(December 12, 2025)

President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, have for decades sent oil to Cuba at highly subsidized prices, providing a crucial resource at low cost to the impoverished island.

In return, the Cuban government over the years has sent tens of thousands of medics, sports instructors and, increasingly, security professionals on assignments to Venezuela. That exchange has assumed special importance as Mr. Maduro has leaned on Cuban bodyguards and counterintelligence officers to protect himself against the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean

15.12.2025 - 02:23 [ U.S. Southern Command ]

Cooperative Security Locations

Caribbean CSL (Aruba-Curacao, The Netherlands Antilles)

The CSL is at two locations: Curaçao`s Hato International Airport and Aruba`s Reina Beatrix International Airport. The formal 10-year access agreement with the Kingdom of the Netherlands was signed in March 2000 and the Netherlands` parliament ratified the agreement in October 2001. Both CSL locations required minor construction improvements to include aircraft parking ramps, maintenance, and operations buildings. Counter-drug flights were made from these locations even as improvements were being made. To date, the Aruba CSL has seen limited improvement and use while the Curacao CSL has received all required improvements to include ramp space for two large, two medium, and six small aircraft, a fresh water rise facility, a maintenance hangar, and an operations building.

Aruba-Curacao provides effective, rapid response operations in the northern source zone, which includes the Guajira Peninsula of Colombia and the Venezuelan border region, as well as a large part of the transit zone. The U.S. Air Force handles day-to-day operations at the CSL.

15.12.2025 - 02:21 [ SimpleFlying.com ]

„Outrageous“: JetBlue A320 Narrowly Avoids Mid-Air Collision With US Military Tanker Over Curaçao

To maintain a safe level of separation, the JetBlue aircraft halted its climb and leveled its altitude before eventually climbing again to cruising altitude. During communications between the aircraft and ATC, Curaçao‘s control center confirmed that the military tanker was not visible on their screens either.

With its transponder not switched on, the aircraft would also not have been visible to JetBlue‘s Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), which relies on transponder signals from nearby aircraft to warn of potential collisions. While this near-miss occurred during daylight hours, the situation could have been a lot worse if it happened at night during minimal visibility.

15.12.2025 - 02:15 [ CNN ]

JetBlue plane near Venezuela avoids ‘midair collision’ with US Air Force aircraft

A JetBlue flight from the small Caribbean nation of Curaçao halted its ascent to avoid colliding with a US Air Force refueling tanker on Friday, and the pilot blamed the military plane for crossing his path.

“We almost had a midair collision up here,” the JetBlue pilot said, according to a recording of his conversation with air traffic control. “They passed directly in our flight path. … They don’t have their transponder turned on, it’s outrageous.”

The incident involved JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curaçao, which is just off the coast of Venezuela, en route to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

15.12.2025 - 01:26 [ Nation News Barbados ]

US landing military aircraft in Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo – The government of the Dominican Republic has authorised several United States military aircraft to land in the country in the coming days as part of an operational support deployment in the Caribbean.

The aircraft will have temporary permits to operate from restricted areas at San Isidro Air Base and Las Américas International Airport.

15.12.2025 - 01:18 [ CNC3.co.tt ]

US military aircraft to arrive in Dominican Republic for deployment in the Caribbean

(December 13, 2025)

The C-130, in service since 1954, is one of the most successful military transport aircraft in history. Designed for rugged operations during the Cold War, it has been used in conflicts such as Vietnam and Desert Storm, as well as major humanitarian missions in Haiti, during Hurricane Katrina, and in global disaster zones.

The KC-130, introduced in the 1960s, serves as a tanker and logistics aircraft, enabling aerial refueling for fighter jets, helicopters, and drones.

It has supported operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, as well as nighttime special operations and personnel transport.

15.12.2025 - 01:16 [ France24.com ]

Dominican Republic to allow US to use facilities for anti-drug ops

(November 27, 2025)

The announcement came during a visit by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Santo Domingo, as the United States seeks to ramp up pressure on leftist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, whom Washington accuses of heading a drug cartel.

„We have authorized the United States, for a limited time, to use restricted areas at the San Isidro Air Base and the Las Americas International Airport for logistical operations of aircraft,“ including refueling and the transport of equipment and personnel, President Luis Abinader told a news conference.

12.12.2025 - 09:43 [ Unsere-Zeit.de ]

GLS-Bank kündigt Konten der DKP

Eine erste Irritation im Umgang zwischen der DKP und der GLS-Bank trat im September auf. Eine Mitarbeiterin der GLS-Bank bat „dringend“ um „Informationen zu der Nutzung“ der Konten. Sie präzisierte in ihrer Mail: „Insbesondere benötige ich Informationen zu der Spendenaktion für Kuba.“ Die DKP stellte alle gewünschten Angaben fristgerecht zur Verfügung, erhielt aber auch auf Nachfrage, wozu die Informationen benötigt werden, keine Antwort. Stattdessen erfolgte die schriftliche Kündigung der DKP-Konten zum 31. Dezember. Danach waren die Verantwortlichen der Bank für die DKP nicht mehr zu sprechen.

12.12.2025 - 08:22 [ UltimasNoticias.com ]

Maduro: The crew members of the oil tanker are missing

„They committed a criminal and illegal act when they carried out a military assault, kidnapping, and robbery—like pirates of the Caribbean—of a merchant, commercial, civilian, private vessel. A ship of peace, which was attacked almost upon reaching the Atlantic, not off the coast of Venezuela. It was further north, beyond Trinidad and Tobago, towards the island of Grenada.“

Regarding the crew, he said, „As I speak to you now, the crew of that ship, which was carrying 1.900.000 barrels of oil to international markets—oil that was paid for in Venezuela, because everyone who extracts oil pays for it first—are being held captive, they‘ve disappeared, nobody knows where they are. The crew was kidnapped. The ship was stolen, and a new era has begun: that of criminal naval piracy in the Caribbean.“

12.12.2025 - 08:12 [ Reuters ]

Exclusive: US preparing to seize more tankers off Venezuela‘s coast after first ship taken, sources say

The U.S. is preparing to intercept more ships transporting Venezuelan oil following the seizure of a tanker this week, as it increases pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, six sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The seizure was the first interdiction of an oil cargo or tanker from Venezuela, which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2019. It came as the U.S. executes a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean and as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for Maduro‘s ouster.

11.12.2025 - 22:18 [ MSN.com ]

Opinion: Rand Paul demands vote on war in Venezuela: ‚I‘m old-fashioned‘

“I’m reminded of what my mother would tell me when I was a kid, ‘Ten wrongs don’t make a right,’ so the fact that 10 presidents have done it doesn’t make it right. Our Founding Fathers were united to a person — all those who signed, all those who debated over the Constitution, the Federalist Papers — were unanimous that Congress should declare war, no president should on his own. Now we have disobeyed that, but we do have the ability, if Congress rose up in a clear two-thirds majority and said ‘no,’ we could overturn any veto.”

11.12.2025 - 10:18 [ TrinidadExpress.com ]

Guyana signs US military cooperation agreement

“The two countries also signed a Statement of Intent to expand joint military cooperation with full respect for the sovereignty and laws of both countries,” President Irfaan Ali said, following talks here with senior US officials, including US Senior Advisor to the Secretary of War, Patrick Weaver, and the Acting Assistant Secretary of War for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Joseph Humire on Tuesday.

11.12.2025 - 09:40 [ CNC3.co.tt ]

Security experts reject PM’s claim that unflagged vessels can be attacked

(December 10, 2025)

Former director of the National Coastal Surveillance Radar Centre and National Transformation Alliance (NTA) political leader, retired Coast Guard commander Norman Dindial, said that the Prime Minister’s claim is legally unsound. He said flagless vessels are classified as stateless, not pirates, and cannot be considered lawful targets.

His comments follow renewed questions about the September 2 strike near Trinidad and Tobago’s waters, now under scrutiny for allegedly killing two survivors in a second hit. Speaking outside Parliament on Tuesday, Persad-Bissessar said the incident “had little to do with Trinidad and Tobago” and suggested the unregistered vessel may have been viewed as carrying pirates. Dindial dismissed that interpretation.

11.12.2025 - 09:35 [ Guardian Trinidad and Tobago ]

PM on US ‘double tap’ strike: Unflagged vessel treated as pirate ship

(December 10, 2025)

Asked Sun­day about the “dou­ble tap” strike, Per­sad-Bisses­sar had asked for more time to re­search the mat­ter.

Asked again yes­ter­day out­side the Par­lia­ment, the Prime Min­is­ter said, “I don’t see how it ap­plies to me or what it has to do with me or Trinidad and To­ba­go. The Unit­ed States is a sov­er­eign na­tion and they are free to ex­er­cise their sov­er­eign­ty in man­ners that they see or deem fit. I can­not be judge and ju­ry here to de­ter­mine whether they are right or whether they are wrong. Those are not with­in our ju­ris­dic­tion or my re­mit.”

But Per­sad-Bisses­sar main­tained that any ves­sel sail­ing with­out a na­tion­al flag risks be­ing clas­si­fied as a pi­rate ship and, as such, would not be en­ti­tled to the same pro­tec­tions af­ford­ed to le­git­i­mate mar­itime ves­sels.

11.12.2025 - 09:13 [ theHill.com ]

Lawmakers react to US seizure of Venezuelan oil tanker

Last week, Paul and Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.), Adam Schiff (Ca.) and Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) filed a war powers resolution to prevent the administration from engaging Venezuela in conflict without congressional approval.

The Kentucky Republican reiterated he and his colleagues’ push on Wednesday, saying that “if you want war, the president should come to Congress, like the Constitution dictates, and he should ask Congress for a declaration of war.

“That’s what should be going on right now.”

11.12.2025 - 09:11 [ CNN ]

US seizes oil tanker off Venezuelan coast

President Trump did not offer any detailed explanation for the move, saying only that the vessel was seized “for very good reason.” Asked what would happen to the oil the tanker was transporting, Trump said, “We keep it, I guess.”

The seizure occurred in international waters, a senior US official said, and proceeded without incident or casualties either among the US personnel or the tanker’s crew.

The ship, which was headed to Cuba, was ultimately destined for Asia after being brokered through Cuban sellers, the senior official said, adding that additional seizures are possible in the coming weeks as the US applies pressure on Maduro.

10.12.2025 - 07:33 [ ABC News ]

Admiral ousted by Hegseth talks privately to lawmakers

(December 9, 2025)

Adm. Alvin Holsey, who was pushed out of his post as the top U.S. military commander overseeing operations in Latin America, spoke privately with several lawmakers on Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the meeting — an indication that Congress is quietly pursuing a bipartisan inquiry into the Sept. 2 boat strike in the Caribbean Sea.
(…)
Also on Tuesday, House and Senate leaders known as the „Gang of Eight“ are hearing separately from President Donald Trump‘s national security team: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.