Archiv: 08-2025: US miltary build-up near Venezuela / airstrikes on civil vessels / fishermen killed / 03-01-2026 president of Venezuela kidnapped / US threats against Colombia Cuba Nicaragua / Caribbean War


25.07.2026 - 23:20 [ Drop Site News ]

Prosecutor Investigating U.S. Boat Strikes and Claims of Torture Was Murdered in Ecuador

(July 23, 2026)

QUITO, Ecuador—Alexandra Bravo, the prosecutor assigned to investigate U.S. strikes on three Ecuadorian boats and the 36 survivors’ subsequent accounts of torture and kidnapping, was shot dead in the coastal city of Manta last month. According to police, on June 14 a hitman aboard a black motorcycle opened fire on Bravo as she and her sister were leaving a cafĂ© at about 11 a.m. Bravo’s sister, who jumped to protect her, was also killed in the attack.

Upon arriving at the crime scene, officers say they found five 9mm shell casings and Bravo’s injured driver, but no sign of the police detail that had been assigned to protect her.

25.07.2026 - 23:15 [ Drop Site News ]

Rare Survivors of Pacific Boat Strikes Allege U.S. Forces Kidnapped and Tortured Them

(April 21, 2026)

Under right-wing president Daniel Noboa, Ecuador has become a critical U.S. proxy in the region; described as a “North American colony” by political analyst and former advisor to Ecuador’s Secretary of International Relations Daniel Granja.

The military regime, which rules by martial law, has stonewalled all inquiries into the whereabouts of the fishermen. “They slammed the door in our face,” Angelica Mero told Drop Site News.

The United Nations Committee on Forced Disappearances, which was already investigating Noboa’s armed forces prior to this incident, has issued a letter demanding answers on La Fiorella. Opposition lawmaker Mónica Palacios echoed those calls, announcing she will bring this case directly to the U.N.

Now, 36 survivors of two Pacific attacks fitting a similar profile alleged that they were abducted and tortured by American forces and taken by boat all the way to El Salvador before being returned to Ecuador. Drop Site spoke to multiple survivors and attorneys from both boats.

25.07.2026 - 21:06 [ Archive.org ]

Operation Northwoods

(March 13, 1962)

c. Commence large scale United States military operations.
3. A „Remember the Maine“ incident could be arranged in several forms:
a. We could blow up a US ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba.
b. We could blow up a drone (unmanned) vessel anywhere in the Cuban waters. We could arrange to cause such incident in the vicinity of Havana or Santiago as a spectacular result of Cuban attack from the air or sea, or both. The presence of Cuban planes or ships merely investigating the intent of the vessel could be fairly compelling evidence that the ship was taken under attack. The nearness to Havana or Santiago would add credibility especially to those people that might have heard the blast or have seen the fire. The US could follow up with an air/sea rescue operation covered by US fighters to „evacuate“ remaining members of the non-existent crew. Casualty lists in US newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation.
4. We could develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington.

The terror campaign could be pointed at refugees seeking haven in the United States. We could sink a boatload of Cubans en route to Florida (real or simulated). We could foster attempts on lives of Cuban refugees in the United States even to the extent of wounding in instances to be widely publicized. Exploding a few plastic bombs in carefully chosen spots, the arrest of Cuban agents and the release of prepared documents substantiating Cuban involvement, also would be helpful in projecting the idea of an irresponsible government.

25.07.2026 - 20:53 [ New York Times ]

Declassified Papers Show Anti-Castro Ideas Proposed to Kennedy

(19. November 1997)

“We could blow up a US warship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba,“ the memorandum said.

“We could develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington,“ it continued. “The terror campaign could be pointed at Cuban refugees seeking haven in the United States. We could sink a boatload of Cubans enroute to Florida (real or simulated).“

The records show that on March 13, 1962, the Joint Chiefs of Staff endorsed these ideas as “suitable for planning purposes.“ No evidence exists that they were carried out.

25.07.2026 - 20:48 [ France24.com ]

US accuses Cuba of sweeping spy campaign, aiding American left

(July 21, 2026)

Containing little new information, the report, titled „Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,“ comes as US President Donald Trump pushes to end communist rule of the island while amping up anti-leftist rhetoric at home.

A months-long pressure campaign has seen Washington effectively impose an oil embargo on Cuba, while issuing economic sanctions against key state-run companies and even indicting the former president, Raul Castro.

25.07.2026 - 20:45 [ Washington Post ]

State Dept. again deems Cuba a threat amid talk of U.S. push for regime change

(July 20, 2026)

A new report claims Havana influenced “the George Floyd riots to the rise of Antifa” and accuses the Democratic Socialists of America of Cuba ties.

16.07.2026 - 14:46 [ Time Magazine ]

Trump Administration Vows to Dismantle the International Criminal Court

(July 14, 2026)

The ICC was established by a 2002 treaty to investigate and prosecute war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity when a member of the treaty is unable or unwilling to prosecute the crimes on its own. The U.S. signed but never ratified the Rome Statute, and the ICC has never opened an investigation into alleged crimes committed on U.S. territory.

The court has, however, taken actions against President Donald Trump’s ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It has also opened investigations into American actions overseas, including alleged war crimes committed by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. Some human rights organizations and legal experts have also argued that U.S. strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific and the U.S. abduction of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro could fall within the ICC’s jurisdiction, as Venezuela is a party to the Rome Statute. The ICC has not opened a formal investigation into the U.S. conduct.

16.07.2026 - 14:27 [ U.S. Department of State ]

State Department Launches Campaign to Dismantle International Criminal Court’s Threat to American Sovereignty

(July 13, 2026)

Actions under consideration include:

– Diplomatic calls from the Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary, ambassadors, and other members of senior leadership to foreign nations highlighting the abuses of the ICC and the risks posed to Americans and other nations urging them to withdraw from the ICC

– Nations that partner with American law enforcement and the U.S. military or that enjoy the benefits of the U.S. security umbrella are called upon to reject the ICC’s purported authority to prosecute American officials and servicemen

– Increased scrutiny of nations that refuse to reject the ICC’s false authority while relying on U.S. assistance

– Diplomatic calls urging other nations that, like America, that are not party to the Rome Statute to leverage their diplomatic networks to take similar actions alongside us

– Visa revocations and travel bans for ICC personnel

– Increased sanctions against the ICC and affiliated organizations

17.06.2026 - 19:56 [ Al Jazeera ]

Trump hails Russia, China for being ‘neutral’ on Iran

Trump has thanked China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s ⁠Vladimir Putin for being “neutral” during the US-Israel war on Iran.

“I just want to thank them because they made it ⁠a lot better,” Trump said, adding that China was “terrific” and made efforts to help settle the conflict.

13.06.2026 - 21:28 [ Middle East Eye ]

Norway: International law is worth defending, even when allies break it

In an interview with Middle East Eye‘s Expert Witness podcast in Oslo, four months into the devastating war, Andreas Kravik said the war on Iran, launched on 28 February, had no basis in law.

„In our interpretation of the law, it is not a legal operation,“ Kravik said. „We think that is a violation of the UN Charter, and we have said so in no unclear terms.“

Kravik, a public international lawyer and the foreign ministry‘s former chief of legal affairs, said a state could lawfully use force against another only with authorisation from the UN Security Council, in self-defence against an immediate threat, or with the consent of the state concerned. None applied in Iran‘s case.

„There is no authorisation here from the UN Security Council
 and there was no consent from Iranian authorities,“ he said. Norway had carried out its own legal assessment, he added.

13.06.2026 - 21:01 [ New York Post ]

Tren de Aragua leader killed in dramatic US airstrike — marking new level of cooperation with Venezuela

US military officials stressed the joint action with the former US rival in statements after President Trump shared video of the “swift and lethal” strike that took out Guerrero.

“We extend our gratitude to the Venezuelan security forces for their support to the successful joint operation against a Tren de Aragua compound that resulted in the death of the narco-terrorist organization’s leader,” said Gen. Francis L. Donovan, head of US Southern Command.

09.06.2026 - 18:20 [ Netzpolitik.org ]

EuropÀische Inlandsgeheimdienste sind weltweit vernetzt

(05.03.2020)

Das Bundesamt fĂŒr Verfassungsschutz arbeitet im „Berner Club“ mit den Auslandsgeheimdiensten Mossad und CIA zusammen. Mit weiteren Behörden tauscht der deutsche Inlandsgeheimdienst Informationen zu „nicht-islamistischem Terrorismus“ sowie „Rechts- und Linksextremismus“. Wegen des „Staatswohls“ hielt die Bundesregierung diese Details bislang geheim.

30.05.2026 - 17:50 [ American Prospect ]

The Miller Doctrine

(May 27, 2026)

Yet proposals that skirt the edges of international law didn’t come out of nowhere. The U.S. under George W. Bush created legal mechanisms following the September 11th attacks to torture hundreds of people in CIA black sites and then at Guantanamo Bay. The Obama administration’s targeted drone strikes were assassinations by another name. The Biden administration further eroded international norms and subverted its own policies by financing Israel’s genocide in Gaza, in violation of the Leahy Law, which prohibits foreign military assistance to nations that violate human rights.

“Seems like Miller is sort of taking what he was already willing to do during the first term and then combining that with what Israel has been doing in the way it has just been completely ignoring any kind of international law, Geneva Conventions, any of it in its conduct in Gaza and Lebanon, to then influence U.S. foreign policy,” Annelle Sheline, a research fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said in an interview.

In other words, Miller and the Trump administration have been able to steamroll what was left of international law; they just had to figure out how to do it.

28.05.2026 - 14:39 [ CNN ]

Trump’s ‘blow ‘em up’ threat to Oman means he’s now attacked or threatened 1 out of every 13 countries

He’s launched strikes in seven countries so far this term — Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen — after also attacking some of those countries in his first term. That doesn’t even count the strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, which have targeted nearly 60 vessels and killed more than 190 people.

He has also threatened or left open the possibility of strikes against seven others this term: Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Greenland (which is part of Denmark), Mexico, Panama and now Oman. He also threatened Mexico and North Korea in his first term.

22.05.2026 - 02:13 [ Miami Herald ]

U.S. sends aircraft carrier Nimitz to the Caribbean as pressure mounts on Cuba

In what appears to be a carefully calibrated show of force, the U.S deployed the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its accompanying strike group into Caribbean waters this week, a move that coincided with the unsealing of murder charges against former Cuban leader RaĂșl Castro on Wednesday and an intensifying pressure campaign by the Trump administration against Havana.

21.05.2026 - 08:21 [ Drop Site News ]

Cuba Girds for Invasion as Trump Launches RaĂșl Castro Indictment Amid Punishing Blockade

And reports indicate that the number of U.S. military surveillance flights taking place near the island have skyrocketed in recent weeks, raising fears of an impending operation.

(…)

Trump’s recent threats to “take” Cuba, however, coupled with the recent loss of energy supplies from Venezuela and the Castro indictment, may mark the most serious threat to the country’s independence since its 1959 revolution.

15.05.2026 - 01:26 [ Associated Press ]

Trump’s talk of 51st US state met with near-silence in Venezuela

(May 14, 2026)

Twice this week, U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed interest in turning Venezuela into his country’s 51st state. The latest came via a Truth Social post Tuesday with a map showing the South American country filled with the U.S. flag.

Previous statements doubting Venezuela’s sovereignty over the past 25 years have been met with immediate derision from senior government officials, including the president.

15.05.2026 - 01:18 [ CBS News ]

CIA director John Ratcliffe meets with Venezuela‘s interim president Delcy RodrĂ­guez in Caracas

(January 16, 2026)

CIA director John Ratcliffe met with Venezuela‘s interim President Delcy RodrĂ­guez for two hours Thursday in Venezuela‘s capital, Caracas, to „deliver the message that the United States looks forward to an improved working relationship,“ a U.S. official told CBS News Friday.

The official described the trip as historic, noting that Ratcliffe was the first Cabinet-level official to visit Venezuela since the U.S. military operation to remove the country‘s autocratic leader NicolĂĄs Maduro nearly two weeks ago.

15.05.2026 - 01:14 [ Reuters ]

CIA director meets with top officials in Havana, Cuban government says

A U.S. delegation led by CIA director John Ratcliffe met with his counterpart at Cuba‘s Interior Ministry in Havana on Thursday, the Cuban ​government said in a statement, as tensions worsen over a U.S. ​fuel blockade that has starved the island of fuel and ⁠power generation.

15.05.2026 - 00:56 [ New York Times ]

Tracking U.S. Military Killings in Boat Attacks

Strikes
57

Killed
192

15.05.2026 - 00:31 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

Why are the state leaders of China and Russia complying with U.S. sanctions against Iran, Venezuela, Syria, and Cuba?

(August 7, 2021)

Because they want to.

15.05.2026 - 00:24 [ Barrons.com ]

Cuba Calls On US To Lift Blockade Following Aid Offer

In a post on X, Diaz-Canel urged the United States to instead lift its blockade.

„The damage could be eased in a much simpler and faster way by lifting or relaxing the blockade, since it is known that the humanitarian situation is coldly calculated and induced,“ he said.

But, if Washington showed „true willingness“ to provide aid, he added, „it will encounter no obstacles or ingratitude from Cuba.“

02.05.2026 - 23:48 [ Newsweek ]

Donald Trump Says US Will Take Over Cuba ‘Almost Immediately’

President Donald Trump said Friday during remarks in Florida that the United States would take over Cuba “almost immediately,” suggesting an aircraft carrier could be positioned offshore after the conflict in Iran.

The comments came the same day Trump signed an executive order significantly expanding U.S. sanctions on the Cuban government and its affiliates.

23.04.2026 - 04:21 [ NPR.org ]

Cuba confirms meeting with US officials on island, wants energy blockade lifted

(April 21, 2026)

The exchange was conducted „respectfully and professionally,“ he said, adding that the U.S. delegation did not issue any threats or deadlines as has been reported in some U.S. media.

„The elimination of the energy embargo against the country was a top priority for our delegation,“ GarcĂ­a del Toro said. „This act of economic coercion is an unjustified punishment of the entire Cuban population.“

23.04.2026 - 04:18 [ Los Angeles Times ]

Cuba’s collapse: From Obama’s historic opening to Trump’s crippling embargo

(April 20, 2026)

When President Trump took office in 2017, he reinstated the travel ban, upped sanctions and closed the U.S. Embassy in Havana that Obama had opened.

President Biden left most of Trump’s restrictions in place. When Trump returned to office last year, he began what the White House has described as a “maximum pressure campaign” to force political and economic change in Cuba, including a near-total blockade on oil shipments that has sparked fuel shortages, price increases and prolonged blackouts on the island.

23.04.2026 - 04:02 [ Truthout.org ]

US Carries Out Fifth Boat Strike in Under a Week, Bringing Death Toll to 177

(April 16, 2026)

As with the 50 previous attacks on boats in the Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, the military did not publicize any evidence that the boat was carrying drugs or that its passengers were “narco-terrorists.”

23.04.2026 - 03:59 [ NBC News ]

Another U.S. strike on suspected drug boat in the eastern Pacific kills 4

(April 11, 2026)

The latest strike brings the death toll to 175 since the operations began in early September. The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for one survivor from an attack Saturday.

U.S. Southern Command posted aerial video on social media Tuesday showing a vessel bobbing in the water before being struck by a projectile and exploding. The military earlier said it struck two boats on Saturday and a third on Monday.

14.04.2026 - 20:17 [ NBC News ]

Pramila Jayapal calls U.S. oil blockade on Cuba ‘outrageous’: Full interview

In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press after her visit to Cuba, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) says the Cuban people are being collectively punished by the U.S. oil blockade, and says she would like to see formal negotiations between the two countries.

29.03.2026 - 11:46 [ Al Jazeera ]

How many countries has the US bombed since 2001, and how much has it cost?

(March 3, 2026)

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks, President George W Bush launched what he called a “war on terror”, a global military campaign that reshaped US foreign policy and triggered wars, invasions and air strikes across numerous countries.

According to an analysis by Brown University’s Watson Institute of International & Public Affairs, US-led wars since 2001 have directly caused the deaths of about 940,000 people across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other conflict zones

17.03.2026 - 17:38 [ Taylor and Francis Online ]

Stephen Miller and the cultural politics of fascist subjectivity

(March 11, 2026)

Miller’s very being evokes the cold mechanization of a machine, a body turned against itself, moving without rhythm, empathy, or grace. His presence feels engineered: cold, scarred, and hollowed out, the body made into an instrument of command. It is as if a war within himself has long since been lost, a war against vulnerability, imagination, and the capacity to feel. What remains is a man armored against life itself.

17.03.2026 - 17:20 [ theAtlantic.com ]

The Wrath of Stephen Miller

(January 7, 2026)

Trump has described Miller as sitting “at the top of the totem pole” inside the White House.

“He oversees every policy the administration touches,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told us. “I can’t tell you the number of times a policy matter is discussed in the Oval and Trump will say, ‘Where’s Stephen? Tell him to get that done.’”

To critics, Miller is the smirking embodiment of everything they view as dangerous and authoritarian about the Trump administration. He has been called a Nazi, a neo-Nazi, a white supremacist, a kapo, and Lord Voldemort. Posters of Miller—pursed lips, furrowed brow—have been plastered around the nation’s capital, stamped with CREEP and FASCISM AIN’T PRETTY. His own uncle has denounced him, writing at one point that if Miller’s immigration policies had been implemented a century ago, their family—which fled anti-Jewish pogroms in Europe—“would have been wiped out.”

17.03.2026 - 17:10 [ BBC ]

‚Trump‘s psyche‘: The aide driving president‘s most controversial policies

(February 9, 2026)

„By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland?“ Miller asked. „Nobody is going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.“

He went on to assert that there are „iron laws of the world“.

„We live in a world, in the real world… that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,“ he said.

It was heady stuff coming on the heels of America‘s surgically precise use of military force in Venezuela. And, for a president who a few days later would tell the New York Times that the only limit on his global powers are „my own morality“ and „my own mind“, it may have been warmly received.

14.03.2026 - 13:56 [ Blake Burdge / Cuba Monitor / Substack ]

Regime Change and Real Estate

(March 11, 2026)

When Cuban-American billionaire Jorge Mas Santos (henceforth, Mas) visited the White House last week, the meeting was less focused on Inter Miami’s MLS Cup victory and more on the evergreen influence of Miami’s business elite over Washington’s Cuba policy.

Mas, the chairman of a powerful family business empire and longtime political player in South Florida, has spent decades advocating for tightening U.S. sanctions on Cuba until the island’s political system changes. He inherited the position from his father, Jorge Mas Canosa, who formed the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) with the help of the Reagan administration as part of Washington’s effort to counter leftist governments in Latin America and the Caribbean.