Public sentiment regarding the U.S. military deployment near Venezuela is sharply polarized. While many commenters support the initiative as necessary for combating drug trafficking and holding the Maduro regime accountable, a significant portion expresses skepticism about the true motives, suggesting that it's primarily focused on controlling Venezuela's vast oil resources rather than genuinely addressing the crisis. Concerns about the potential for escalated conflict and the ethical implications of foreign military intervention are prevalent, indicating a general distrust towards U.S. intentions.

U.S. Government

Venezuelan Government

U.S. Military

For those unaware, there's a fairly substantial US force assembling off the coast of Venezuela - at least 3 Arleigh Burke destroyers and at least 1 attack submarine, supported by 2 more Arleigh Burke destroyers deployed to the Gulf. There's also the 22nd MEU on the way, though it got delayed by Hurricane Erin - that will bring a light carrier and \~2,200 US Marines.

Axelrad77

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Monday the deployment of 4.5 million militiamen throughout the country, assuring that “no empire will touch the sacred soil of Venezuela,”

novagridd

An American special military operation???

_Neo_64

TorshePaycan

My goodness... It's going to be long years here in Latin America.

Dsalgueiro

For a president (Trump) that said he would end all wars, he certainly seems to be missing the mark....

Critical-Serve-4128

This is kind of like if the US Air Force started patrolling with F-35s so you got out a Cessna as a show of force. 

unsurewhatiteration

US: "Look at all these nice, touchable boats."

TheNinjaDC

Historical_View1359

As a Venezuelan-American (who before you assume I'm MAGA I voted Harris) don't see an issue here. Most people in the US do not understand that Maduro and his cronies are cartel terrorists who have the monopoly of violence in Venezuela and have prosecuted, massacred and sent over 7.7 million of us all over the Americas (in the Top 3 refugee crisis EVER).

There IS an elected civilian government, but Maduro and his cronies including corrupted army generals (part of the Cartel de los Soles) keep power through the threat of violence. I'd like to think that an operation akin to what Trump did to Soleimani but instead on Maduro could turn the tides and allow finally the transition of Venezuela back to Democracy.

But trying to convince fellow americans that in the end it will help to the stability of both our nations is very very difficult. One of the biggest concerns I always hear is about a military operation taking American lives (a few missiles off a drone akin to what happened with Soleimani won't risk any American lives), or having an explosion of refugees.... but the explosion already happened and most Venezuelans just want to go back home.

maq0r

ryuujinusa

The dim light bulb went off with Zelensky… “you mean if I’m in a war I don’t have to have elections!”

“Hegseth get the bottle out of your mouth, deploy the forces to Latin America!!!”

Xiaopeng8877788

Brazilian here, please don't bomb us by mistake, we don't wanna become Laos version 2.

Super-Estate-4112

1905 called they wants gunboat diplomacy back.

slavaukrine

Edmundo is a nobody. Everyone that voted him which by the way was 70% of the people knew they were really voting for Maria Corina. If Maduro went down elections would be called 6 months later and she would win in a landslide. Maduro going down would be more fall of the Soviet Union and less Vietnam or Syria

Cule44883

Whatever happened to taking over Canada, Greenland, and Panama? Trump just throws darts at dartboards and threatens whatever country they land on.

NuclearFartMonkey

[America Just Ordered Troops to Kill the Cartel](https://youtu.be/HU2OXRrEhoo?si=vF5Z-2_d9IqlBdye) by Cappy Army, who formerly ran and hosted the youtube channel Task &amp; Purpose...

Gawkhimmyz

Venezuela should be very careful honestly.

TonkaHeroDreamCake

Conflict could mean more migration to other countries, including the US.

LeoBrok3n

Hypothetically speaking what could happen if us government decides to take down maduro 💀? Venezuela should be free?

Prestigious_lfc

Wrf is Venezuela gonna do? I've seen a bunch of Venezuelans flee from there and live in my city. Plus isnt that country broke?

frank00SF

Amazing how many ignorantes are pining for a USA invasion in latam

soycomolarrydavid

Crazy that the US only care about the population of countries with rich reverves of natural resources, gotta be a coincidence right?

Potential_Status_728

just do it already please! get rid of maburro.

Estrelleta44

These militias are going to suffer extreme attrition from day zero

razgeez

Fuuuuuuck

Trump will be the President to break the "deploy in the middle East" Timeline!

swainiscadianreborn

Trump just stated that if there’s a war going on elections would be canceled - guess he’s deciding most effective place to have his war

Mozzy2022

Just remember Nicolás Maduro’s rule in Venezuela has been widely criticized for authoritarian practices, including rigged elections, suppression of opposition voices, and disqualification of key candidates. His government has been accused of serious human rights violations such as torture, arbitrary killings, and the imprisonment of political dissidents. Independent media and civil society have faced censorship and intimidation, while the military has gained outsized control over governance and the economy. International observers, including the UN and OAS, have condemned these actions, describing Venezuela’s political and human rights climate as increasingly repressive under his leadership.

LastAzzBender

He needs to start a war so he can cancel the midterms to keep power.

Lilcommy

External_Counter378

War is decided first, then the story is manufactured. The USA wants Venezuela's oil. Plus, there's so much munitions depreciating on the books that it needs to get used.


But don't forget who the bad guys are!!!

motorambler

Aren’t Venezuelans mostly pro maga / trump fans or is that Americans with Venezuelan heritage?

twofourfourthree

Maduro is so cute thinking he can do anything if the US even pisses in his general direction

flapyforeskin

Gonna get a war started so he can try and Russia up our elections.

Not_your_dads_socks

Only brain dead Americans muh freedom much would celebrate an American invasion on Latin America. Trump doesn't give a fuck about Venezuelan people, he wants oil and he is not going to stop there. We brazilians should be worried l. 

RespectmyPANTS

Considering that Cuba and Venezuela were fraternal socialist comrades, I wonder how this will play out in Habana.

cosmicrae

Politics aside, how much of a fight can Venezuela army even fight against the US? Feels like the conflict would end in a day and enough time for beer

Pale_Following_9639

xbimmerhue

Perhaps to intact wartime powers before November?

Old-Presence-9160

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Americans are finally going back to the jungle after like 30 years of playing in the sandbox

pm_me_BMW_M3_GTR_pls

I know no one wants to believe it, but the media really are doing their best to legitimize Trump.  In no reality are the ships there to "combat drug cartel threats" but here's CBS news stating it like a fact.  The media has completely abandoned their duty to inform the public.

slothbuddy

SnackyMcGeeeeeeeee

https://preview.redd.it/1upsz80molkf1.jpeg?width=1080&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=52aab8f7e705ad1d003aba9b918d53a56aad23e6

anus_blaster_1776

As a south American with many Venezuelan friends, this is the worst way in which Maduro could leave, but it's still probably better than Maduro staying

Enfiznar

The warships are to protect the oil we’re grabbing

T_Rey1799

daffy_M02

CMao1986

By complete coincidence, Venezuela also has some the largest oil reserves in the world /s

that_random_scalie

I'm a big America fan. America is my favourite country, I love American food, I love American culture.

BUT, I also love the values for which you stand on, which are freedom and unity, and if America fails to uphold these values, I'm on team Venezuela.

EngoMan56

“No new wars” voters taking their 30th L of the day

DoeCommaJohn

Don’t do something stupid

Don’t do something stupid 

Both governments and there armed forces


Please do not do something stupid

I_like_F-14

Here’s a good video explaining what it’s all about: https://youtu.be/HU2OXRrEhoo?si=ZGIL53ebl-Q6ylmQ

ZEROs0000

for those in living in south america, this is a quite relevant news we see  on "almost" mainstream media

CapitalArtichoke1826

But, but, but this is the no wars president!

Fluffy-Benefits-2023

Good, if it helps remove Maduro from power then it's a net positive. Ideally you'd like a peaceful change in leaders, but this works too, it's still a positive over Maduro ruling the country

Lower_Kick268

Yes, I'm glad it's happening, the narco-tyrant Nicolás Maduro needs to fall.

SUVr-

An aircraft carrier off of my coast would make me think twice about doing, well anything.

Zawaya

Yeah I didn’t even hear about it until my wife told me. She’s South American and her socials media feed is more geared towards Latin American stuff while mine is more towards United States stuff and, at least this morning, only 2 major media outlets had reported on it, both of them anti-Trump, while her feed was full of it.  From what I’ve seen Trump accused Maduro of being connected to the cartels and said he’s sending the military to stop them from sending drugs to the US but who knows what his motives actually are. As some have pointed out, Venezuela has the biggest oil reserve in the world, and Maduro has openly criticized the US many times.

Rude-Neck-2893

yasinburak15

[deleted]

The mobilisation of U.S. military assets follows Washington’s recent decision to increase the bounty for Maduro’s capture, [doubling](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy1wn1x521o) it to an unprecedented [$50 million USD](https://www.state.gov/nicolas-maduro-moros). Last week, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the seizure of assets worth  [$700 million USD](https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-08-14/us-claims-it-has-seized-700-million-of-nicolas-maduros-assets.html) from the Venezuelan head of state. 

In an official statement published on Tuesday, the Venezuelan government [said](https://x.com/teleSURtv/status/1957885907823915435): “The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela observes with total clarity the desperation of the United States administration, which resorts to threats and defamation against our country. Washington’s accusation that Venezuela is involved in drug trafficking reveals their lack of credibility and the failure of its policies in the region.”

In response to the increased U.S. military presence in the Caribbean, President Maduro [announced](https://youtube.com/shorts/56fufVQEgeA?si=_yaPiNmXg1dVRP0b) a plan to mobilise 4.5 million militia members across the country.

Some-Technology4413

16% of the population? And arm them with what? And how will they pay and feed them? And where are 4.5 million militia going to be barracked? This doesn't make sense.

VoraciousTrees

That’s a pretty smart tactic to be honest. Send three warships and make Venezuela overspend it self to death

ozneoknarf

maduro calling up millions with no food is peak cartoon logic as the boats cost more than venezuela’s annual gdp at this point

UnlikelyOpposite7478

Lmao are the 4.5 million soldiers in the room with us?

Tricky-Enthusiasm-

\[Write up comment\]

In response to the deployment of the US Navy to Latin America's coastlines to reportedly combat drug trafficking, Venezuela's Maudro has announced calls of mass mobilization in the country. As an someone who is completely out of the loop on this issue, I've been seeing a couple of news headlines and some online commenters I've seen are stating that the situation is more tense then it has been before.

This was rather intense saber rattling from the Venezuela government over Guyana's Essequibo region in the last year or two. At that time, I was reading articles fearing a potential invasion due to reports of alleged Venezuelan troop buildup on the Guyana border, and some were comparing the situation to Russia's building up to the Ukrainian invasion. Yet that dispute disappeared from the headlines almost entirely after a few months.

Does this latest round of tensions have any chances of escalating further? Or will it likely quietly fizzle away like that Essequibo standoff? What is going on in Venezuela, and why the sudden apparent spike in tensions between the United States and the Muadro regime?

Leather_Focus_6535

Maduro is allegedly the also leader of the Cartel de los Soles [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartel\_of\_the\_Suns](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartel_of_the_Suns) Definitely not beating the allegations with this move lol

200-inch-cock

A big part of the problem and the elephant in the room is the US demand for narcotics.


I'm not sure what the answer is, but the war on drugs has been lost, decades ago.

FckRddt1800

I'll just leave this here:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/trump-im-not-going-to-start-wars-im-going-to-stop-wars/

Beyond Trump's campaign promises, has US military action ever been long-term successful in combating drug trafficking? I know the track record of success in combating heroin production in Afghanistan was terrible.

merpderpmerp

I wonder if JSOC will get deployed or is the US now too pussy to even take on VZ?

ChallengingBullfrog8

I can definitely believe trump will try to start a war of some kind down south of the border somewhere. This is probably just tension tightening though, I feel he's too much of a TV guy, he likes to telegraph everything and prepare the hogs for it and I don't think enough of them see the point in a war with vuvuzelia

girl_debored

The U.S. has deployed warships near Venezuela as tensions escalate between the two nations, aiming to combat drug trafficking.

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