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Trump Admin Reportedly OKs CIA Action in Venezuela Amid Growing Alarm Over Bombed Boats
The reporting came as rights groups sought the legal memo on the president's deadly strikes on alleged drug-running boats in the Caribbean.
Oct 15, 2025
As outrage over US President Donald Trump's deadly boat bombings mounts, The New York Times reported Wednesday that his administration secretly authorized the Central Intelligence Agency "to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela and conduct a range of operations in the Caribbean," with the ultimate aim of ousting the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro.
"The agency would be able to take covert action against Mr. Maduro or his government either unilaterally or in conjunction with a larger military operation," according to the Times, which cited unnamed US officials. "It is not known whether the CIA is planning any operations in Venezuela or if the authorities are meant as a contingency."
"But the development comes as the US military is planning its own possible escalation, drawing up options for President Trump to consider, including strikes inside Venezuela," the newspaper noted. The administration's Venezuela strategy was "developed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with help from John Ratcliffe, the CIA director."
The White House and CIA declined to comment on record, though some observers speculated it was "an authorized leak." The reporting comes as Democrats in Congress, human rights groups, and legal scholars sound the alarm of Trump's five known strikes on boats he claims were smuggling drugs, which have killed at least 27 people.
Critics highlighted the United States' long history of covert action in Latin America, as well as how the reported CIA authorization contrasts with Trump's so-called "America First" claims.
"This is absolutely insane," said Tommy Vietor, a former Obama administration official who went on to co-found Crooked Media. "America First was not sold as CIA regime change operations in Venezuela."
Critics also noted Trump's mission to secure the Nobel Peace Prize; this year, it went to María Corina Machado, a right-wing Venezuelan who dedicated the award to not only the people in her country, but also the US president.
"Now that Trump has delegated his preposterous politicking for a Nobel Peace Prize to sycophants, he can finally get around to declaring unilateral war on Venezuela, a war crime, as he murders Colombian civilians at sea, another war crime, and endorses collective punishment in Gaza, another war crime," journalist Seth Abramson said Wednesday.
As Senate Democrats last week unsuccessfully fought to stop Trump's boat strikes of the Venezuelan coast, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media that one of the bombed vessels appeared to be carrying citizens of his country.
"A new war zone has opened: the Caribbean," he said at the time. "Evidence shows that the last boat bombed was Colombian, with Colombian citizens inside. I hope their families come forward and file complaints. There isn't a war against smuggling; it's a war for oil, and the world must stop it. The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean."
The Trump administration recently claimed in a confidential notice to Congress intended to justify the deadly bombings that the president decided drug cartels "are nonstate armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States."
While that notice leaked to the press, the ACLU and Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on Wednesday filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the Office of Legal Counsel's guidance and other related documents regarding the strikes.
"All available evidence suggests that President Trump's lethal strikes in the Caribbean constitute murder, pure and simple," said Jeffrey Stein, staff attorney with the ACLU's National Security Project. "The public deserves to know how our government is justifying these attacks as lawful, and, given the stakes, immediate public scrutiny of its apparently radical theories is imperative."
CCR legal director Baher Azmy stressed that "in a constitutional system, no president can arbitrarily choose to assassinate individuals from the sky based on his whim or say-so."
"The Trump administration is taking its indiscriminate pattern of lawlessness to a lethal level," Azmy added. "The public understanding of any rationale supporting such unprecedented and shocking conduct is essential for transparency and accountability."
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House Dems Demand Trump, Rubio Free Sumud Flotilla Americans Held by Israel
"The US has an obligation to protect its citizens abroad and must act immediately."
Oct 06, 2025
Congressman Ro Khanna and two dozen other California Democrats wrote to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, urging them to demand that Israel release the Americans it detained while intercepting the Global Sumud Flotilla before the boats could reach the Gaza Strip.
More than 450 people from over 40 countries joined the peaceful mission to break Israel's blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to starving Palestinians. Among them were at least 21 US citizens who "remain in Israeli detention," according to the letter from lawmakers, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The lawmakers highlighted the Californians who are detained: Progressive International co-general coordinator David Adler, Tommy Marcus, Geraldine Ramirez, and Logan Hollarsmith.
They also emphasized that "the US has an obligation to protect its citizens abroad and must act immediately."
"We call on you to work for the immediate and safe release, including arranging the logistics of a plane to ensure the speedy recovery, of US citizens who were on the flotilla and are still being held in Israeli prisons," the lawmakers wrote to Rubio and Trump—who last week told Israel to "immediately stop" bombing Gaza.
Despite the directive from Trump—whose government gives Israel billions of dollars a year in military aid, even as it faces mounting allegations of genocide—Israel continues to bomb Gaza. The US lawmakers' letter stresses that in the Palestinian territory, "the humanitarian situation is growing more dire by the day," with the entire population food insecure and most housing destroyed.
"We call for humanitarian aid to be sent to the people of Gaza," states the letter—sent on the eve of the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel, which has responded by slaughtering at least tens of thousands of Palestinians.
As of Monday, Israel had deported 341 of the 479 detained flotilla activists—including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who told reporters Monday that "I could talk for a very, very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment," but urged people around the world to focus on the genocide in Gaza.
"I will never, ever comprehend how humans can be so evil that you would deliberately starve millions of people living trapped under an illegal siege as a continuation of decades and decades of suffocating oppression, apartheid, occupation," she said.
Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) on Monday expressed concern about "reports of mistreatment of the American citizens detained by Israel for participating in the Gaza aid flotilla," and urged their immediate release and safe return to the United States.
Jeremy Corbyn, a member of the UK Parliament who used to lead the Labour Party, and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel have also publicly called for the release of Adler and the other flotilla members who remain detained by Israel.
Like the California Democrats, the US advocacy group Defending Rights & Dissent also wrote to Rubio on Monday, and specifically pointed to Adler, military veteran and podcaster Greg Stoker, and Drop Site News journalist Alex Colston.
"The State Department has a responsibility to defend the rights of our citizens abroad, especially when they are being subjected to violations of fundamental rights by a foreign government," wrote Defending Rights & Dissent. "Disturbingly, we have received reports that US consular assistance has been minimal or nonexistent. This is in stark contrast to other nations that have forcefully advocated for the human rights of their citizens and secured their expedited release."
After speaking with Hollarsmith's mother, Sidney Hollar, KQED reported Monday:
Hollar said she heard from the US Embassy in Jerusalem early Monday that Hollarsmith and the other US citizens still in detention were expected to be deported in the next 24 hours. She said that she was told they would be flown out of the country, but not given information about where they would land.
From there, the US would "loan them money for a hotel and for a flight home," she said. She called the prospect "outrageous."
"We can't fund a little chartered flight to get our US citizens, including US vets, home?" Hollar said.
"The Americans are being punished by the American government for delivering humanitarian aid," she said.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) took to social media on Monday to put pressure on the State Department.
"Last week, I wrote to Marco Rubio urging protection of Americans on the Sumud Flotilla. Since then, Israel has detained dozens of activists, including Americans, for trying to feed starving Gazans. This is unacceptable," she said. "Marco Rubio, you must negotiate their safe return home."
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'The Entire World Is Watching': US Lawmakers Demand Protection for Gaza Flotilla From Israeli Attacks
"The 24 American citizens on board these ships cannot afford another failure of American leadership," the Democratic lawmakers emphasized.
Oct 01, 2025
A group of Democratic lawmakers in the US House of Representatives are demanding that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio protect the civilians aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is headed to deliver humanitarian aid to starving Palestinians in Gaza.
Led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the Democrats on Monday sent Rubio a letter warning that the flotilla's passengers are "at serious risk" as their ships enter the final leg of their journey to Gaza.
"Hundreds of brave civilian volunteers from over 40 countries—including the United States—have set sail to Gaza to deliver essential aid, establish a humanitarian corridor, and save lives," they said. "Already, flotilla ships have been targeted and attacked by drones on at least three occasions."
The lawmakers also noted that the flotilla has been facing "communications jamming, daily harassment and surveillance from the skies, and increasingly threatening rhetoric from Israeli government officials."
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said last week it would take "all necessary measures" to stop the humanitarian flotilla from delivering aid to Palestinians, more than 400 of whom have starved to death so far due to Israel's near-total blockade.
The Democrats emphasized the importance of allowing the flotilla to pass through the Israeli naval blockade so that it can complete its mission to deliver aid.
"Famine and mass starvation are underway and worsening in Gaza, threatening the very survival of Gaza's entire Palestinian population of over 2 million people," they said. "This forced starvation is a direct result of the Israeli government's siege and blockade of the territory, which has prevented nearly all food and humanitarian aid from entry."
Later in the letter, the lawmakers condemned Rubio for not protecting past aid flotillas that had been intercepted by the Israeli military, and argued that "the 24 American citizens on board these ships cannot afford another failure of American leadership."
"The United States has an obligation to protect its citizens from foreign attack," they wrote.
Rep. Melanie Stanbury (D-N.M.) backed her colleagues' demand for protection of the flotilla in a social media statement on Tuesday.
"The Global Sumud Flotilla is set to arrive in Gaza in the next 24 hours," she wrote. "Fifty boats from across the world, bringing aid and food to the people of Gaza. We are calling for their safe passage, an end to the blockade, and unrestricted humanitarian aid to all those suffering now! The entire world is watching."
Watch a video live stream of the flotilla below.
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
David Adler, co-general coordinator of Progressive International and one of the organizers aboard the flotilla, said in a social media post as the humanitarians neared Gaza that "even if we do not complete our mission this time, the Sumud flotilla has already achieved so much."
"The flotilla has rallied the world's attention once again to the suffering of the people of Gaza," he said. "The flotilla has joined land and sea in the mass mobilization of millions. And the flotilla has forced reluctant states into active confrontation with the illegal siege that has starved the people of Palestine and robbed them of their right to self-determination."
The House Democrats' letter came days after a group of progressive lawmakers in the US Senate sent Rubio a letter demanding the he put pressure on Israel to stop it from attacking the flotilla.
The governments of Italy and Spain last week sent navy ships to help protect the flotilla, which set sail one month ago with the goal of breaking through the Israeli military blockade that has for months prevented aid from reaching Gaza, causing famine in the exclave.
Passengers on the flotilla include Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; American actress Susan Sarandon; Irish actor Liam Cunningham; Portuguese politician Mariana Mortágua; former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau; and Mandla Mandela, the grandson of former South African President Nelson Mandela.
Also on Wednesday, Amnesty International demanded that states including the US provide protection to the flotilla as it enters a "high-risk zone" where organizers expect to be intercepted.
"The persistent inaction of states in the face of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has forced activists from across the world to take peaceful measures to break the siege," said the group. "States have a responsibility to guarantee the flotilla’s safe passage. They must step up pressure to protect the flotilla and demand an end of Israel's genocide, and of its unlawful blockade once and for all."
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