Battle Lines Is Trump about to invade Venezuela?
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Oct 24, 2025 Brian Finucane, a Senior Adviser at the International Crisis Group and a former Department of State lawyer, dives deep into the rising tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela. He discusses the controversial military buildup near Venezuela and clarifies the legal ambiguities of recent U.S. strikes. Finucane debunks narratives around narco-terrorism, while explaining why regime change in Caracas may be unrealistic. He also raises alarms about the implications for U.S. democracy and the erosion of congressional authority over military actions.
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Unprecedented Caribbean Buildup
- The US has massed ships, F-35s, special forces and reopened a Puerto Rico base near Venezuela in a major Caribbean buildup.
- The deployment far exceeds what is needed for maritime drug interdiction and signals coercive pressure on Maduro.
Diverging Agendas In Washington
- Multiple actors in the Trump administration push different agendas: performative strikes versus explicit regime-change aims.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears to be the key driver behind the larger deployment toward regime change.
Strikes Break Established Drug-Interdiction Norms
- The strikes on vessels break with long-standing interdiction norms that favour Coast Guard law-enforcement procedures.
- Former national security lawyers say these lethal strikes lack legal justification.