President Donald Trump has reportedly ended all diplomatic outreach to Venezuela, instructing envoy Richard Grenell to cease all efforts as he grows frustrated with authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro’s reluctance to relinquish power.
Trump is also frustrated that Maduro keeps rejecting any ties with drug cartels, The New York Times reported. Officials told the outlet that the administration has drawn up multiple military plans for an eventual escalation.
So far, the U.S. military has conducted at least four strikes on vessels it claimed were trafficking drugs that would ultimately end up in the U.S. However, some of the new plans could also seek the ousting of Maduro, the outlet added.
Top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt have called Maduro an illegitimate leader, and some lawmakers with close ties with the Venezuelan community have been hinting at regime change in the country.
A White House official told the New York Times that Trump is prepared to use “every element of American power” to stop drugs from entering the country. In this context, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that those who are north of Venezuela and intend to traffic drugs into the U.S. will be considered a legitimate target by the U.S. military.
Speaking to Fox News, Hegseth claimed that, before carrying out the strikes, the U.S. confirms “where they come from, who they work for, what they transport, how many people are on that ship.”
“That’s why the are clean and legitimate attacks in defense of the homeland. And we hope they deter these foreign terrorist organizations from doing so, because the American people deserve to be defended,” Hegseth added.
The U.S. conducted a new strike on Friday as it ramps up pressure on the Venezuelan regime, with the Defense Secretary saying in a post that, “on President Trump’s orders,” he directed a “lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.”
Top Venezuelan officials also seem to expect an escalation, with Venezuelan National Assembly President and chief government negotiator Jorge Rodríguez saying that the regime warned the U.S. about an alleged plan by “extremist sectors of the local right” to place explosives at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.
Rodríguez said the Maduro regime had alerted Washington “through three different channels” about what he described as a “false flag operation” designed to harm Venezuelan interests. “We have also warned a European embassy so that it may communicate the gravity of this information to U.S. diplomatic personnel,” he added.
The statement was issued on Rodríguez’s official Instagram account, where he said that security measures around the U.S. Embassy had been reinforced. “Our government respects and protects that diplomatic facility,” Rodríguez wrote, calling the alleged plot “a grave threat.”
Venezuela and the United States have not maintained formal diplomatic relations since 2019, when authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro expelled U.S. diplomats following Washington’s recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president. The U.S. Embassy building in Caracas has since remained closed to the public, though a small staff continues to maintain the premises.
Originally published on Latin Times
