Venezuela Masses 15,000 Troops At Sensitive Border Areas Amid U.S. Naval Build-Up At Sea

August 25, 2025

Venezuela is mobilizing thousands of security forces to its Colombian border, just as the Trump administration positions three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers with thousands of troops in international waters off the South American country’s coast. The moves come as Washington labels President Nicolás Maduro a terrorist-cartel kingpin and re-postures its military presence across the Western Hemisphere.

So what’s really going on here?

Well, Maduro’s regime is positioning 15,000 police and military officers in sensitive border states of Zulia and Táchira, signaling concern over cross-border threats – particularly given the growing U.S. presence in the region. This may suggest U.S. forces intend to disrupt command-and-control nodes of drug networks emanating from Venezuela, or perhaps even set the stage for regime change.

“The president has ordered this deployment to guarantee peace,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Monday at a press conference, adding, “If they want to enter through the border, they won’t be able to.”

Cabello said an unspecified number of aircraft, boats, and drones will support those forces. His press conference was rolled out on state media, ensuring maximum visibility on domestic airwaves and internationally. It projects military strength toward both Colombia and the international community, especially with U.S. forces in the region.

Recall a recent New York Times report that stated President Trump issued a secret directive authorizing the Department of Defense to conduct direct military operations against select Latin American drug cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). It’s not hard to figure out which country is in the crosshairs given the new force posturing of warships in the Caribbean.

“It signals Mr. Trump’s continued willingness to use military forces to carry out what has primarily been considered a law enforcement responsibility to curb the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs,” the NYT wrote in the report.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration designated the transnational criminal Tren de Aragua from Venezuela an FTO.

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On the national security front, consider America’s drug-death crisis, fueled by precursor chemicals shipped from China to Mexico and surrounding third-world countries, then funneled into the U.S. as a form of irregular warfare waged by the Communist Party of China.