Maduro Pleads for Peace as U.S. Military Campaign Escalates: “No crazy war, please!”

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday appealed for calm and warned against war as tensions rose amid an expanding U.S. military campaign Washington says is targeting drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Pacific.

Speaking in English to trade unionists aligned with his government, Maduro urged restraint: “Yes peace, yes peace forever, peace forever. No crazy war, please!”

The remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had authorised covert action against Venezuela while overseeing a military operation that has deployed stealth warplanes and naval vessels. Washington says the campaign has targeted eight boats and a semi-submersible suspected of smuggling drugs, though it has not publicly released evidence supporting those claims.

Trump told reporters Thursday he had not sent B-1B bombers to Venezuela but warned, “we’re not happy with them. They’ve emptied their prisons into our country.” He also said the administration was not necessarily seeking a formal declaration of war from Congress: “We’re not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war.” He added, in stark terms, “We’re just going to kill people who come into our country.”

The U.S. strikes — which began on September 2 — have, by U.S. figures tallied by AFP, killed at least 37 people. The campaign has heightened regional tensions, with Maduro accusing the United States of pursuing regime change.

In a further sign of the regional fallout, Trinidad and Tobago announced late Thursday that a U.S. warship would dock in Port-of-Spain from October 26–30 and that a unit of U.S. Marines would take part in joint exercises with its defence forces. Two of those reportedly killed in the U.S. strikes were nationals of Trinidad and Tobago.

Last week, Trump said he had authorised covert CIA action in Venezuela and was weighing strikes on alleged land-based drug cartel targets. The U.S. president has publicly accused Maduro of heading a drug cartel — an allegation the Venezuelan leader rejects.

Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino said Thursday, “We know the CIA is present,” warning that any covert deployments would fail: “They may deploy — I don’t know how many — CIA-affiliated units in covert operations… and any attempt will fail.” Padrino was overseeing military exercises along Venezuela’s coast in response to the U.S. deployments.

Legal and human-rights experts have questioned the legality of using lethal force in foreign or international waters against suspects who have not been intercepted or given an opportunity to be questioned.