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


17.10.2026 - 12:48 [ CBS News ]

U.S. military lays groundwork for potential action around Cuba

(Septemnber 26, 2026)

Washington — The U.S. Army Reserve is examining whether it can provide the military‘s Southern Command with police forces, medical personnel and other support units within the next four months, according to an internal Army message reviewed by CBS News.

Though the message makes no reference to Cuba, the request is for continued military planning aimed at Cuba, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

17.10.2026 - 12:35 [ Fox News ]

Pentagon sends hundreds of Army troops to Latin America for training as drug-trafficking campaign expands

According to The Times, the troops will first deploy to a new jungle training facility in Panama before eventually training with local forces in Colombia and Honduras.

The troops could also support U.S. special operations personnel who are advising local militaries conducting raids against suspected drug traffickers, the outlet reported.

Separately, several hundred soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division are expected to help staff a new Western Hemisphere military command based in Miami.

17.10.2026 - 10:43 [ Predict.org ]

Gas Prices and the 2026 Midterms

(March 26, 2026)

Few economic indicators hit voters as fast or as visibly as the price of gasoline. Academic research stretching back decades confirms what political operatives have long understood intuitively: when gas prices rise sharply, presidential approval falls, and when approval falls heading into a midterm, the president’s party loses seats. That chain is being tested dramatically right now.

17.10.2026 - 10:40 [ theAtlantic.com ]

Gas Prices Could Cost Republicans the Midterms

(September 14, 2026)

If Democrats manage to take back the House and Senate in November despite an inhospitable electoral map, the Trump effect on gas prices may well be the reason.

17.10.2026 - 10:36 [ Neues Deutschland ]

Trumps Drohung: HĂ€nde hoch, Diesel her!

(October 1, 2026)

Alles nur, weil Trump seine Umfragewerte mit einem kurzen MilitĂ€r-Quickie im Iran pushen wollte. Das jedoch löste eine destruktive Kettenreaktion sondergleichen aus, wie ein Elefant, nein, eine Atombombe im Porzellanladen. Diese Ära wird in ein paar Jahren zumindest gute Serien auf Netflix oder HBO erzeugen, und man wird sich fragen, wie zum Teufel ein Mensch wie Trump je an die Macht kommen konnte.

11.10.2026 - 00:18 [ Reuters ]

US seizes $3 million in fuel shipments to Cuba as crackdown continues

(October 7, 2026)

The US said on Wednesday it had seized 90 separate shipments of biodiesel bound for Cuba worth nearly $3 million, the second time ​in a week US authorities have announced the seizure of „illegal“ fuel ‌en route to the island nation.

06.10.2026 - 16:32 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

About the West Asia War

(June 12, 2026)

On November 30, 2023, the „New York Times“ reported, that the Netanyahu government knew of Hamas‘ attack plan a year before. The relevant document was „circulated widely among Israeli military and intelligence leaders“. Did you ask around in your country what your state or commercial spy agencies knew of this?

The state of Israel is in bed with every „western“ spy agency (look it up). So, either all of your state spies, at least in the „Western World“, but also in the vast majority of Arab monarchies, knew of this, are collaborators in this very normal massacre of October 7th and need to be abolished, or they did not know, therefore are worthless and need to be abolished. All it takes is a simple question. A win-win question to get a grip on the spies, one of the most important part of the global war machine. Did you ask that question? Did anybody?

06.10.2026 - 15:25 [ El Pais ]

‘The truth is Cuba has already fallen’: the United States’ strategy to subdue the island

(October 2, 2026)

“The president says anything and Marco Rubio finds himself in a very difficult position to react to what he says,” says Andy Gómez, the former director of the Cuban and Cuban American Studies Institute at the University of Miami, who helped shape a policy proposal for U.S.-Cuba relations in the Obama era. “The scene is like a soap opera, a soap opera lived every day in Miami and in Cuba. There is a major global problem with the war with Iran, for which no solution is in sight; so Cuba has had to wait.”

06.10.2026 - 15:05 [ Common Dreams ]

We Are All Living at the Mercy of Donald Trump’s Brain

(August 18, 2026)

And in truth, whatever happens as far as Iran is concerned (or for that matter Greenland) by the time this piece appears, who among us won’t have long known that, with such a president, we simply couldn’t be in a stranger, more happenstantial, less predictable universe? For all I (we) know, by the time it comes out or anytime thereafter, “our” president could be doing more or less anything, including, say, kidnapping the first secretary of the communist party and leader of Cuba, Miguel DĂ­az-Canel BermĂșdez. After all, if he could do so for Venezuela’s leader, why not Cuba’s?

The truth is that Donald Trump’s brain, returned to the White House by 49.8% of American voters in 2024, should make us all anxious (even them). At any moment, any thought might enter it and the next thing you know… well, unfortunately, you already do know that, whatever it might be, we’re not likely to know until it smacks us all in the face!

05.10.2026 - 20:34 [ Amnesty International USA / X ]

Nearly 240 dead in this illegal campaign of extrajudicial killings, i.e., murder at sea. Where is Congress to stop the horror?

(…)

05.10.2026 - 20:32 [ Common Dreams ]

‘More Performative Killing at Sea’: Another Trump Boat Strike Leaves 4 Dead

Citing a federal memo that it aims to keep concealed from the public, the Trump administration claims to be at war with drug cartels and that the killings in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean are justified. Legal experts and human rights advocates argue the bombings are at least war crimes, if not outright murder.

Sunday’s strike was the administration’s first confirmed boat bombing since Ben Saul, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, said last month that even if the targeted vessels were engaged in drug trafficking, there are no “international legal rights to unilaterally use military force” to counter cartels.

04.10.2026 - 15:21 [ Jacopo Custodi / Jacobin ]

Europas Rechte leckt Trump die Stiefel

Es zeigt sich: Immer wieder haben sich gerade jene Parteien, die behaupten, die Nation an die erste Stelle setzen zu wollen, als die eifrigsten VerrÀter der Interessen ihres eigenen Volkes erwiesen. Sich mit Trump und Netanjahu gut zu stellen, scheint schlichtweg wichtiger.

In diesem Sinne kuschelt sich die radikale Rechte auch eng an das liberal-konservative Establishment in den europĂ€ischen Institutionen. TatsĂ€chlich hat sich die einstige Kluft zwischen diesen beiden Fraktionen seit Jahren stetig verringert. Die jĂŒngsten Kriegshandlungen in Nahost machen diese AnnĂ€herung noch deutlicher sichtbar. Beide Seiten sind nur allzu gerne bereit, ihre Rolle als Untergebene in der globalen Hierarchie zu spielen.

04.10.2026 - 12:45 [ ABC News ]

US Coast Guard says it seized ships with thousands of gallons of oil destined for Cuba

(October 2, 2026)

„The high seas are not a sanctuary for lawlessness,“ said Adm. Kevin Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard. „Dark fleet actors who employ deceptive tactics to engage in illicit activities will not evade justice. The Coast Guard is bringing every capability to bear to interdict these vessels and uphold international law.“

20.09.2026 - 13:05 [ France24.com ]

Cuba hit with another nationwide blackout amid US fuel blockade

Cuba suffered a total blackout after the collapse of its electrical grid on Friday. The blackout is the latest of at least six partial or total grid collapses since the beginning of this year, as the island grapples with an ongoing US fuel blockade.

20.09.2026 - 12:44 [ CBS News ]

4 killed in U.S. strike on alleged drug-smuggling boat in Caribbean, Pentagon says

The U.S. military attacked a boat suspected of being used to smuggle drugs in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday, killing four people, as the Trump administration continues its monthslong campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America.

The latest attack brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 231 in 69 strikes since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls „narcoterrorists“ about one year ago.

16.09.2026 - 22:56 [ Antiwar.com ]

Speaker Johnson Cancels Thursday House Session, Pushing Hegseth Impeachment Vote Until After Midterms

Massie argued in his eight articles of impeachment for Hegseth that passing the concurrent War Powers Resolution was one of the multiple ways Hegseth and the administration are breaking the law by continuing the Iran war.

The articles also address how Hegseth has ignored US laws designed to mitigate civilian casualties, his role in extrajudicial executions at sea (strikes on alleged drug-running boats), the attack on Venezuela to abduct President Maduro, the bombing campaign in Yemen last year, and his efforts to chill free speech.

04.09.2026 - 22:30 [ TKP.at ]

Kuba wirft den USA einen „Krieg ohne Bomben“ vor

Das von der Trump-Regierung verschĂ€rfte Öl-Embargo bezeichnet Lianys Torres Rivera, Kubas ranghöchste Diplomatin in den Vereinigten Staaten als „Krieg ohne Bomben“. Indes hat die CIA ihre Operation im Land ausgeweitet – Ă€hnlich wie vor dem Venezuela-Angriff.

03.09.2026 - 10:20 [ Democrats / US House Foreign Affairs Committee ]

Ranking Members Meeks, Smith, Himes, and Thompson Introduce War Powers Resolution to End Trump’s Illegal Boat Strikes

September 2, 2026

Washington, DC — Marking one year since the Trump administration’s first boat strike, U.S. Representatives Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee; Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; and Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee, introduced a War Powers Resolution today to block the administration from continuing to use U.S. Armed Forces to conduct strikes in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.

“One year ago today, the Trump administration launched a campaign of extrajudicial killings, using the U.S. military and taxpayer dollars to execute at least 227 individuals without due process or a credible national-security justification. The administration calls this counternarcotics. However, it remains unclear whether these operations have made any real difference in stemming the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, and they were never authorized by Congress. A year later, the administration has little to show for this lawless campaign except a mounting body count, a massive price tag, and a stain on the American conscience.

03.09.2026 - 10:10 [ American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ]

ACLU Demands End to the Trump Administration’s Illegal Year-Long Boat Strikes Campaign

In Just One Year, the Trump Administration’s Bombing Campaign Has Killed at Least 227 People, Including Fishermen and Farmhands

03.09.2026 - 10:00 [ Common Dreams ]

Trump Condemned for 200+ Extrajudicial Killings After Yearlong Murder Spree at Sea

Wednesday marked one year since President Donald Trump began bombing boats allegedly smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean—a grim anniversary that sparked a fresh wave of condemnation from rights advocates across the United States and beyond.

31.08.2026 - 00:46 [ Consortium News ]

Twilight’s Last Gleaming

There is a point in the decline of republics when the problem is no longer that government breaks its own laws. Governments will always behave unlawfully. The deeper problem comes when the constitutional machinery designed to prevent those acts stops functioning — when spending becomes detached from arithmetic, presidential power becomes detached from law and Congress and the courts become detached from the Constitution.

That’s where America is today.

(…)

The twilight of our constitutional republic has not arrived because the sun suddenly disappeared. It has arrived because, little by little, nearly everyone became accustomed to the darkness.

29.08.2026 - 15:28 [ CNN ]

Trump says US reaches deal with Venezuela to control 65 billion barrels of country’s oil reserves

“At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and, through a partnership with private business, have secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer,” Trump wrote on social media.

Trump’s emphasis on lowering American gas prices, almost two months before the US midterm elections, comes as the national average gas price sits at more than $4 a gallon.

28.08.2026 - 18:27 [ Forbes Breaking News / Youtube ]

Cuban UN Representative: If The UN Wants To Stop World Hunger, ‚Then The Arms Race Needs To Stop‘

(August 26, 2026)

During a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Cuban Representative to the UN Ernesto SoberĂłn GuzmĂĄn spoke about the link between peace and global food stability.

28.08.2026 - 18:21 [ ApexNewsExclusive.com ]

Cuba takes ‘Hunger Blockade’ claim to UN Security Council, accuses US of deepening crisis

(August 26, 2026)

The Cuban government, in a statement to the Security Council on Tuesday, August 25, warned against the use of hunger as a weapon of war and argued that conflicts, economic inequalities and unilateral coercive measures were aggravating global food insecurity.

Havana specifically linked the worsening food situation in Cuba to the impact of the United States’ economic, commercial and financial restrictions, which it refers to as a blockade.

The intervention came only days after Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez launched a fresh attack on Washington over new sanctions imposed on Cuban state entities and officials, accusing the administration of US President Donald Trump of deliberately squeezing the Cuban economy and undermining the government’s capacity to provide basic services.

Rodríguez said the latest measures were particularly affecting the movement of containers carrying food, medicines and medical equipment, including supplies acquired by Cuba’s private micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

27.08.2026 - 16:35 [ United Nations ]

‘We Cannot Keep Peace When There Is No Peace to Keep,’ Secretary-General Says, Calling for Reset of United Nations Peace Operations

But let me be clear: Peacekeeping operations should only be deployed when a peace agreement or at least a robust ceasefire is in place. We cannot keep peace when there is no peace to keep.

13.08.2026 - 05:40 [ Jacobin ]

Die USA wollen Kuba aushungern

Wenn GECOMEX keine derartigen Maschinen und AusrĂŒstung importieren kann, sind seine Tochtergesellschaften nicht in der Lage, Agrarrohstoffe wie Weizen und Bohnen effizient zu verarbeiten. Dies fĂŒhrt wiederum dazu, dass weniger Grundnahrungsmittel ihren Weg in die kubanischen Haushalte finden.

Die Sanktionen gegen den Hafenbetreiber GEMAR sind noch gravierender: Sie verursachen Compliance-Risiken fĂŒr jedes Schifffahrtsunternehmen, das LiegegebĂŒhren in Kuba zahlt. Mehr als 7.000 Container mit Bestimmungsort Havanna sind daher aktuell in der Karibik gestrandet, nachdem Unternehmen wie Hapag-Lloyd und CMA CGM aufgrund der rechtlichen Unsicherheit ihre AktivitĂ€ten in Kuba vorerst eingestellt haben.

13.08.2026 - 05:36 [ Jacobin ]

After Blocking Fuel, the US Turns to Cuba’s Food Supply

In July, the US State Department announced a round of broad economic sanctions against Cuba targeting industries that have historically been spared, limiting the Cuban government’s ability to purchase agricultural commodities and food processing equipment from third countries by singling out Cuba’s state importer (GECOMEX) and port operator (GEMAR).

This is happening in the context of America’s monthslong oil blockade against Cuba, which has already immiserated the general population by impeding basic sanitation and food safety and has killed scores of patients in Cuban hospitals. A US congressional delegation that visited in early July described the situation on the ground as a “silent Gaza.”

13.08.2026 - 05:27 [ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) / BĂŒro des Hohen Kommissars fĂŒr Menschenrechte ]

U.S. sanctions against Cuba are endangering lives and must be lifted

(June 8, 2026)

The U.S. declaration of a national emergency in January disrupted fuel shipments to Cuba, severely reducing the country‘s fuel reserves by mid-May. This depletion has led to daily blackouts that now frequently exceed 20 hours. Additional sanctions were imposed in May, including some with extraterritorial effect on private entities, such as traders, insurers, tourism or shipping companies, financial institutions, and others involved in fuel supply or engaged with the country‘s energy, defence, mining, finance, and security sectors.

These measures, combined, are significantly affecting the population’s human rights, notably their access to essential supplies and services, including water, food and healthcare.