Critics Allege White House 'Propaganda' After US Bombs Boat Off Venezuela Coast

Critics of US imperialism on Tuesday responded with skepticism after President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a deadly military strike on what they claimed was a boat linked to a drug cartel off the coast of oil-rich Venezuela.

Trump said on his Truth Social network that 11 people were killed by a US attack in "international waters" on a boat "positively identified" as being used by the Tren de Aragua gang. Rubio said the "lethal strike" targeted "a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela."

On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Last month, the president reportedly signed a secret order directing the Pentagon to use military force to combat drug cartels abroad, sparking fears of renewed US aggression in a region that has endured well over 100 US attacks, invasions, occupations, and other interventions since the issuance of the dubious Monroe Doctrine in 1823.

Trump has deployed numerous US warships and thousands of sailors and Marines off the coast of Venezuela, a country he has repeatedly threatened with regime change in the face of defiant anti-imperialist resistance from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

On Monday, Maduro responded to the US escalation during a press conference, telling reporters that he would declare a "republic in arms" in the event of any attack.

"In the face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defense of Venezuela," he said, calling the US action "an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral, and absolutely criminal and bloody threat."

"Mr. President, Donald Trump," Maduro added, "watch out, because Mr. Rubio wants to stain your hands with blood."

Armed with the knowledge of more than a century of US meddling in Venezuelan affairs—a history that includes supporting coups and brutal dictatorships and policies of economic strangulation—anti-imperialist critics questioned the motives of Tuesday's attack.

"If Venezuela didn't have oil, none of this would happen," one user on the social media site X contended.

Another X user asked, "What happened to Trump campaigning on 'No New Wars?'"

"This has jack shit to do with America First," they added. "Venezuela is zero threat to us. Just another attempt to divert attention away the Epstein files which implicate the rich and powerful across every strata of society."

The independent news site Venezuelanalysis responded to Rubio's announcement in a social media post asking, "Fake propaganda underway?"

"Lil' Marco claims the US military conducted a 'lethal strike' against a drug vessel," the post added, using Trump's old nickname for Rubio. "How did they know it had drugs before striking?"

In an opinion piece published Tuesday by Venezuelanalysis, former Italian parliamentarian and organized crime expert Pino Arlacchi called the latest US aggression against Venezuela a "great hoax" and "geopolitics disguised as 'War on Drugs.'"

"This is not about drugs, crime, or national security," Arlacchi asserted. "It is about oil that the US would rather not pay for."