The Trump fascist regime continues to commit wanton murder in the waters off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia. They are doing this in the face of mounting international condemnation of this gross violation of international and U.S. law. 

On November 6, the U.S. military killed three more people on a boat in the Caribbean. Once again, they claimed to be targeting drug traffickers that “posed an imminent threat to the U.S.” Once again, no evidence—absolutely none. Once again, no recognition that even if those aboard had been transporting narcotics, this is not a crime punishable by death. This brought the total number of those killed in their so-called “anti-narcotics campaign” in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September to at least 70. 

Bob Avakian’s words from last winter in his message @BobAvakianOfficial REVOLUTION #114, “Defeating Trump/MAGA fascism: Looking to some future elections... or working now to mobilize millions around this powerful unifying demand: The Trump fascist regime must go!” ring out forcefully:

Trump fascism is a regime that openly and aggressively strips away basic rights and blatantly declares that there is no rule of law and due process of law other than what it dictates, and that raw destructive power is what must rule in the international arena, without even the pretense of adherence to international law or concern about the sovereignty, or even the right to exist, of less powerful peoples and countries.

Trump Regime Has a Bigger Agenda Than “Drugs”—This Is About Naked Imperialist Domination

At the same time, Trump's “War Department” continues to amass an enormous military force in the Caribbean. The world's biggest, most lethal aircraft carrier has now joined the armada already there. The USS Gerald Ford, together with three Navy destroyers accompanying it, carry about 5,500 military personnel, bringing the total U.S. military force aimed at Venezuela to 15,000. The carrier strike group isn't for sinking small boats at sea. But it could launch a steady stream of airstrikes inside Venezuela. The U.S. hasn’t sent this many warships to the Caribbean since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis—when the U.S. imperialists brought the world to the brink of nuclear war over the presence of Russian guided missiles in Cuba. 

Since mid-October, the U.S. Air Force has been deploying an attack plane out of El Salvador, operated by the Air Force Special Operations Command, a unit that carries out “sensitive missions.” The Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, which conducted extensive counterterrorism helicopter operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, recently carried out what the Pentagon said were “training exercises” off the Venezuelan coast. 

Open Thuggery May Take a Leap

Last week, in a 51-49 vote, Senate Republi-fascists defeated Democratic legislation that would have limited the Trump regime in attacking inside Venezuela. Trump also assigned his “Justice” Department to come up with a legal justification for launching strikes inside Venezuela without Congressional authorization.

All this means the open thuggery in the Caribbean will continue and could very possibly take a sudden leap into war. That war could start out one way but could spiral into something else. And take this into account when thinking about that, from the same message cited above:

A fascist regime like this requires someone like Donald Trump as its head: a pathological maniac, with his finger on the nuclear button, who appoints dangerous madmen and power-mad parasites to key positions of power.

At the same time, Trump and his regime may be counting on the series of boat attacks and their mounting military threat of massive force to accomplish their goal of driving out Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro without actually using that whole force in attacking Venezuela directly. This includes prompting splits and defections within the regime, which might force Maduro to leave. And working with opposition groups in the hopes that they can replace Maduro without triggering armed conflict between different forces within Venezuela. But again, nobody can say for certain what will happen once the genie of war is out of the bottle.

A Bigger Message Than Venezuela

The U.S. armada in the Caribbean also delivers a message throughout the region, and beyond. The moves to remove Maduro are initial salvos in a strategic effort to reestablish Central and Latin America and the Caribbean as U.S. imperialism's uncontested “backyard.” That means rewarding allies, isolating those who get in the way, using violence and war when they deem it “necessary,” and above all, stopping China—which is the U.S.’s top nuclear-armed imperialist rival globally, and has become a growing economic force in Latin America.

Trump's bloody serial murders on the seas—and threats of even bigger war crimes against Venezuela and other countries in the region—are completely lawless and illegitimate. These moves pose extreme danger to the people of Venezuela, Colombia, to all of Latin America, and the whole world.