"Senior Biden official cautions against 'disastrous' US intervention in Venezuela"

The White House’s former top official for Latin America has expressed concerns that the U.S. could become involved in a prolonged guerrilla conflict in Venezuela after Donald Trump ordered a military operation targeting a boat in the Caribbean Sea, resulting in the deaths of 11 individuals accused of drug trafficking.

The controversial strike near Venezuela’s coast on Tuesday—reportedly carried out by an attack helicopter or Reaper drone—followed a significant naval deployment to the region, ostensibly aimed at countering drug trafficking in South America.

The next day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated in an interview that the operation was meant to send a strong signal to Venezuela’s leadership. “The only person who should be concerned is Nicolás Maduro… effectively the head of a state involved in drug trade,” Hegseth said, likening the action to U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and Houthi positions in Yemen.

The military presence in the Caribbean has raised questions about whether Trump intends to forcibly remove Maduro from power, even though aspects of U.S. policy toward Venezuela have relaxed since his return to the White House, including resumed deportation flights and eased sanctions. Asked if the administration sought regime change, Hegseth said that decision rested with the president but added, “We are prepared with all capabilities of the U.S. military.”

Speaking to CuriosityNews, Juan González, who served as the National Security Council’s senior director for the Western Hemisphere during the Biden administration, dismissed Trump’s naval deployment as “political theater” but warned of a “very high risk of military confrontation.”

“I’m increasingly worried that the Trump administration might unintentionally stumble into intervention in Venezuela, which would be disastrous,” said the former aide. He believed current U.S. policy toward Venezuela was heavily influenced by hardline opposition figures close to Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, a longtime advocate of aggressive action against Maduro.

“I think their ultimate goal is to draw the U.S. into a conflict with Venezuela,” said González, who also served in the Obama administration.

González cautioned that any U.S. effort to forcibly remove Maduro—who has led since 2013 and was accused of election fraud last year—carries significant risks. “After decades of Chavismo, assuming that replacing the president would suddenly bring democracy is unrealistic,” he said.

Instead, he warned that Venezuela could become the setting for a prolonged internal conflict involving state-aligned armed groups, criminal organizations, and Colombian rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN), whose influence extends deep into Venezuelan territory. “It would become a drawn-out struggle,” he said.