The US and Venezuelan armed forces are involved in a new military standoff in the South Caribbean. Uniting America and the Caribbean against a common enemy had been the original purpose of the mission, but it has spiraled into a conflict with frighteningly familiar features of the Cold War period’s gunboat diplomacy.
The United States has greatly increased its operations offshore Venezuela by sending an amphibious task force led by USS Iwo Jima, three backup warships, and 4,500 Marines and sailors. Escorting them is the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie and the nuclear-powered submarine USS Newport News—a move which indicates Washington is taking this more seriously than a routine patrol.
The Biden administration’s rationale is simple: it charges Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and top officials—including Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello—of directing the Cartel de los Soles, a notorious cocaine-smuggling syndicate Washington has designated as a terrorist group.
But its legality is being challenged. Its opponents hold that sending US warships off the coast of Venezuela without congressional approval violates the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Legal scholars question, too, whether labeling cartels as foreign terrorist organizations complies with existing statutes.
The administration holds that the threat posed by narco-terrorists justifies strong action, despite legal nitpicking.
Venezuela has responded in kind. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino issued a deployment of warships and spy drones along the Caribbean coast, while larger ships moved north to safeguard territorial waters.
Troops numbering 15,000 were deployed along the border with Colombia, and Maduro called for citizens to organize militias to defend the country. Caracas says it has captured 53 tonnes of drugs so far this year, dismantled clandestine shipyards used to build subs for drug-smuggling, and insists it grows no coca of its own—claiming Colombia is the true origin of cocaine.
The technological aspect is one of the most prominent features of this confrontation. Being equipped with high-tech sensors and communication gear, these drones are able to continuously follow suspect vessels for several days and send the gathered intel to the forces who will launch the attack. By employing the autonomous resources for prolonging their reach, the US can substantially reduce the risk to its staff while at the same time, it is maximizing its surveillance, which is in line with the general move towards hybrid fleets.
The conflict has been characterized by diplomatic traits. Venezuela has filed a suit at the United Nations requesting that the military build-up by the US be stopped immediately and that it be guaranteed that no nuclear weapons would be sent into the Caribbean. The opposition leaders in Venezuela are not unanimous—some support the US action while others consider it as allowing intervention by foreign forces. Besides that, such regional governments as Mexico and Paraguay not only spoke out but also strongly supported the positions of national sovereignty and international law.
The hard conflict represents the complicated relationship between the use of force, new technology, and the uncertain legal territory that marks the fight against cross-border crime. While the environment might evoke ancient sea battles, the weapons and issues are thoroughly modern ones.
As these two superpowers, America and Venezuela, gear up for what could be a protracted fight, it will probably turn out to be a question not of sheer military might but of whose strategy, legality, and adaptability will be the winning ones.