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- Trump is reportedly frustrated by President Maduro’s refusal to relinquish power, as Democrats condemn the illegal staging of another war.
CARACAS, (venezuelanalysis.com) – US president Donald Trump has reportedly suspended all diplomatic contact with Venezuela as the US military weighs an expansion of its so-called “war on cartels” from sea to land.
According to a report in The New York Times, Trump phoned special envoy Richard Grenell and ordered him to end all talks with Caracas following a meeting with top military officials on Thursday.
US officials told the paper that the move reflects Trump’s growing frustration with what he sees as president Nicolás Maduro’s refusal to give up power voluntarily and Venezuela’s repeated rejection of Washington’s drug-trafficking allegations against Caracas as unfounded.
The Venezuelan government has not commented on Trump’s orders to terminate diplomatic contact. Caracas and Washington have not had formal diplomatic ties since 2019, though communication channels have been opened several times for key issues, such as oil licenses, migrants’ return, and the release of US citizens detained in Venezuela.
In early September, Maduro sent Trump a letter urging dialogue, peace, and de-escalation, proposing to continue negotiations through Grenell, who had facilitated talks since January and recently expressed optimism that dialogue could prevail over war.
However, Grenell has been sidelined by hardliners such as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Rubio and Miller have repeatedly accused Maduro and high-ranking Venezuelan officials of drug trafficking without providing evidence. They have labelled Maduro a fugitive and point to a 2020 “narcoterrorism” grand jury indictment that has not been proven in court.
Both officials are reportedly urging Trump to authorise military strikes inside Venezuela as the next phase of Washington’s ongoing military campaign in the Caribbean. However, US officials told Reuters on Tuesday that president Trump has not yet decided whether to advance to a second phase involving land strikes.
In a social media post, the House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats openly accused Trump and Rubio of “pushing for regime change in Venezuela” and vowed that Congress should not allow the executive to start another war “illegally or unilaterally.”
Since September, the US Southern Command has bombed several alleged drug-carrying boats off Venezuela’s coasts, killing over 20 people. The Trump administration has sought to justify what experts called extrajudicial killings, alleging that the vessels departed from Venezuela and were operated by designated terrorist organisations.
The bombings happened without formal interception procedures, drawing criticism from Democratic officials for lack of legal grounds and excessive use of force.
Since mid-August, the White House has stationed at least eight warships, aircraft, and an estimated 4,500 troops poised across the Caribbean in a purported mission against US-bound drug trafficking.
The military deployment followed accusations that high-ranking Venezuelan officials are the leaders of the so-called “Cartel de los Soles,” a US-designated terrorist organisation, and are trafficking drugs to the US. In August, the US Justice Department raised to US $50 million the bounty for president Maduro’s capture.
However, Washington has not provided any court-tested evidence of narcotics activities tied to Venezuelan leaders. Drug trafficking reports by both the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have found Venezuela not to be a drug-producing country and to play a marginal role in narcotics trafficking.
The Caribbean’s largest military buildup in decades, alongside the suspension of diplomatic talks, has raised concerns that the US is preparing an intervention in Venezuela. The administration has additionally notified Congress that the US is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels designated as foreign terrorist organisations.
According to reports, the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel has produced a classified legal opinion justifying lethal strikes against an expanded and secret list of alleged cartels and drug traffickers. The document argues that the so-called cartels pose an imminent threat to the US. This new list would extend beyond publicly designated terrorist organisations.
On Tuesday, US Representatives Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), Adam Smith (D-WA), Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) sent a letter to Trump demanding a list of all designated terrorist organisations, along with the criteria used to designate them. The letter likewise requests evidence for the justifications used in the lethal US military strikes in the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, senate democrats are forcing a War Powers Act vote today to stop strikes against boats and “the threat of attacking targets on land in Venezuela or elsewhere,” Senator Adam Schiff told reporters.
Caracas has readied a state of emergency and mobilized its armed forces to safeguard borders, ports, airports, and strategic institutions in the event of external aggression. On Monday, Maduro said that he had written a letter to Pope Leo XIII requesting mediation, while he held meetings with the Russian and Chinese ambassadors Tuesday.
On Sunday, Venezuela denounced what it called a far-right false flag operation to plant explosives in the US embassy in Caracas. The warning was reportedly dismissed by US authorities.
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