Venezuela

2018

2018-07-20 Venezuela experienced an exodus after an increase in authoritarianism.

https://www.cato.org/blog/venezuela-biggest-humanitarian-crisis-you-havent-heard

2019

2019-01-24 Maduro cut diplomatic ties with the U.S.

https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/national/us-venezuela-agree-to-restore-diplomatic-ties-7-years-after-they-were-cut-off/article_fa8afb98-c79e-5faf-a39c-64be2cba07d4.html#:~:text=The%20announcement%20represents%20a%20sharp,%2C%20ultimately%2C%20a%20democratic%20election.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/2/23/maduro-cuts-ties-with-colombia-as-protests-rock-venezuela#:~:text=Maduro’s%20announcement%20came%20against%20a%20backdrop%20of,would%20withdraw%20its%20diplomatic%20staff%20from%20Caracas.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46982692

2025 March

2025-03-06 Trump invoked the Wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to bypass due process and target Venezuelan immigrants.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/president-trump-illegally-invokes-alien-enemies-act-brennan-center-reacts

2025 August

2025-01-20 Pages 179 and 181 of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 calls to take action against Venezuela.

https://static.heritage.org/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

2025-08-28 During a press conference Karoline Leavitt said the Caribbean nations welcomed U.S. troop advancement.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1499211274580946

2025-08-30 The U.S. Navy sank a Venezuelan vessel in international waters.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-venezuela-drug-boat-attack-video-b2819566.html

2025 September

2025-09-04 (context) News outlets report that Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserve.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/4/venezuela-has-the-worlds-most-oil-why-doesnt-it-earn-more-from-exports

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_reserves_in_Venezuela

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/venezuelas-oil-exports-surpass-1-million-bpd-first-time-since-2020-data-shows-2025-10-01/

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis

2025-09-04 Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew close to USS Jason Dunham.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuela-fighter-jets-navy-ship-trump-maduro/

2025-09-06 The U.S. deployed F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico.

https://www.twz.com/air/f-35s-deployed-to-puerto-rico-showcased-in-first-official-images

2025-09-06 JD Vance posted on social media, “killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military”. Brian Krassenstein replied, “killing the citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime”. JD Vance responded, “I don’t give a shit what you call it”. Vance also wrote, “Democrats:let’s send your kids to die in Russia…Republicans:actually let’s protect our people from the scum of the earth”.

https://x.com/JDVance/status/1964341094226743787

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/jd-vance-war-criminal-venezuela-boat-strike-b2821599.html

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/11/headlines/trump_administration_reportedly_considers_military_strikes_on_venezuela

2025-09-10 News reports alleged there were survivors to the Venezuelan boat strike, and that the U.S. turned back to finish the job. If this was true it would be considered a breach of Rules of Engagement and an act of murder.

https://theintercept.com/2025/09/10/u-s-attacked-boat-near-venezuela-multiple-times-to-kill-survivors/

2025-09-16 The U.S. launched a second strike on a Venezuelan boat occupied by three people. When asked what proof the administration had for striking the boat, Trump told reporters to look at the cargo spattering all over the ocean.

2025-09-19 The U.S. launched a third drone strike on a Venezuelan boat.

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115233555445134712

2025-09-20 Trump posted, “We want Venezuela to immediately accept all of the prisoners, and people from mental institutions, which includes the Worst in the World Insane Asylums, that Venezuelan “Leadership” has forced into the United States of America. Thousands of people have been badly hurt, and even killed, by these “Monsters.” GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT NOW, OR THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE INCALCULABLE!”

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115237675581682288

2025 October

2025-10-03 Pete Hegseth reported another lethal strike on a Venezuelan boat, killing 4 people.

2025-10-13 News outlets reported that some Venezuelan leaders joined US leaders to discuss investment opportunities at the IMF World Bank meeting.

https://www.semafor.com/article/11/03/2025/as-trump-pressures-venezuela-investors-see-major-opportunities

https://www.latintimes.com/venezuelan-opposition-leader-reportedly-discussed-investment-opportunities-us-business-leaders-591215

https://meetings.imf.org/en

2025-10-14 The U.S. launched another airstrike on a Venezuelan boat, this time killing 6. By this date there had been approximately 19 strikes so far, so I will not be tallying up the strikes as they had become too excessive and frequent to track.

https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/after-fifth-bombing-trump-administration-must-halt-illegal-caribbean-airstrikes/

2025-10-20 News outlets reported that the Trump administration wants to expand its military to Venezuelan soil; other news outlets reported differently, that Trump stated he doubts the US will go to war with Venezuela.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/23/trump-venezuela-land-strikes

https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2025/11/06/war-looms-in-venezuela-as-trump-tests-an-americas-first-doctrine

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c709rwxzx9yo

2025-10-30 News outlets reported that Democrats were left out of U.S. military boat strike briefings.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senators-criticize-trump-administration-democrats-left-drug-boat-strik-rcna240943

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/democrats-excluded-briefing-us-military-strikes-off-south-america-senator-says-2025-10-30/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-warner-criticizes-trump-administrations-exclusion-of-democrats-from-boat-strikes-briefing

2025 November

2025-11-11 The UK suspended some intel sharing with the US because they also felt strikes in Venezuela were illegal.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/11/politics/uk-suspends-caribbean-intelligence-sharing-us

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/uk-withholds-intelligence-alleged-drug-boats-us-strikes-sources-say-rcna243616

2025-11-13 Military members begin to seek legal counsel because some are concerned they are not shielded from prosecution over Trump’s boat strikes.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-drug-boat-strikes-illegal-b2864851.html

https://thehill.com/homenews/5603976-doj-opinion-caribbean-strikes/

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/doj-drafts-legal-opinion-backing-immunity-us-troops-involved-boat-strikes-2025-11-12/

2025-11-14 Pete Hegseth announced the military will be calling Venezuelan boat strikes “Operation Southern Spear”. By this date the death toll was up to 79. Two days later news outlets reported the USS Gerald Ford entered the Caribbean Sea.

https://defensescoop.com/2025/11/14/hegseth-announces-operation-southern-spear-after-20th-us-strike-against-alleged-narco-terrorists/

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/15/nx-s1-5609888/aircraft-carrier-caribbean-venezuela-military-action

2025-11-29 Trump declared Venezuelan airspace should be closed even though he does not have the authority to close another country’s airspace.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c741mpdyw9no

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-says-airspace-above-surrounding-venezuela-be-closed-its-entirety-2025-11-29/

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/29/world/video/stavridis-venezuela-airspace-digvid

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115633041089714842

2025-11-30 Pete Hegseth used the children’s Franklin the Turtle character to post a violent meme of missiles being fired onto a boat, captioned, “For your Christmas wish list”.

https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/hegseth-franklin-turtle-childrens-book-fighting-narcoterrorists-venezuela-president-donald-trump-department-of-war-defense-boat-strikes

https://www.tmz.com/2025/12/01/pete-hegseth-parodies-franklin-the-turtle/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/war-sec-pete-hegseth-shares-meme-childrens-book-character-firing-narco-terrorist-drug-boat

https://www.foxnews.com/category/person/pete-hegseth

https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/1995291042346852861

2025-11-30 Elsie Rodriguez addressed other states in OPEC to denounce lethal US strikes and suggested those strikes are an attempt to take over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

https://tass.com/economy/2051289

https://deultimominuto.net/en/uncategorized/venezuela-denounces-to-opec-that-the-united-states-seeks-to-seize-its-oil-reserves/

2025 December

2025-12-01 Multiple news outlets reported that Pete Hegseth may be under investigation for war crimes concerning Venezuelan boat strikes, citing the September 2nd boat strike when two survivors of the initial strike clung for their lives amidst burning wreckage and Pete Hegseth gave a verbal order to kill everybody. For context, according to international law it is illegal to murder people who are attempting to surrender or are unable to fight.

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5625885/congress-steps-in-as-questions-mount-over-who-authorized-a-second-strike-at-sea

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8zyp988zvo

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/lawmakers-voice-bipartisan-support-for-congressional-reviews-of-trumps-boat-strikes

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/us/politics/trump-boat-strikes-war-crime.html

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/dec/01/donald-trump-pete-hegseth-caribbean-boats-venezuela-immigration-us-politics-latest-news-updates

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democrat-hell-reintroduce-war-powers-resolutions-after-report/story?id=127984613

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/30/politics/video/trump-hegseth-af1-comments-digvid

https://www.commondreams.org/news/pete-hegseth-boat

2025-12-02 Pete Hegseth and the Trump administration distanced themselves from war-crime allegations for the September boat strike by scapegoating Admiral Bradley. Several news outlets, Democrats and Republicans noted how the administration first claimed they knew nothing about the second strike, but contradicted themselves by stating they knew of it, but it was Admiral Bradley who made the call.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-hegseth-admiral-war-crimes-boat-strikes-b2876615.html

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/02/politics/rand-paul-hegseth-boat-strike

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/28/politics/us-military-second-strike-caribbean

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/2/hegseth-or-admiral-bradley-who-approved-the-second-venezuela-boat-strike

2025-12-10 DHS released a video of a Venezuelan oil tanker seizure to “Momma Said Knock You Out” by LL Cool J.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/10/us-forces-reportedly-seize-oil-tanker-off-venezuela-coast

https://time.com/7340189/venezuela-trump-administration-maduro-oil-tanker-seized-piracy/

https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1998909254854746523?s=20

2026 January

2026-01-12 Trump shared a post from Wikipedia where he declared himself president of Venezuela.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-acting-president-venezuela-wikipedia-b2898695.html

2026-01-14 Trump praised interim president and Maduro loyalist Delsy Rodriguez, noting he had leverage with the current regime in charge in Venezuela.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/14/trump-delcy-rodriguez-venezuela-00730397

2026-01-15 The Senate and Vance blocked a war powers resolution intended to reign in Trump and stop hostilities in Venezuela.

https://www.legion.org/information-center/news/security/2026/january/vote-to-curb-military-action-in-venezuela-blocked-in-senate

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vance-casts-tiebreaking-vote-kill-venezuela-war-powers/story?id=129219762

2026-01-15 The US officially started selling Venezuelan oil with the first sale amounting to $500M. The funds were then sent to banks controlled by the US government, including some based in Saudi Arabia.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/14/business/venezuelan-oil-us-sell-trump

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5689426-venezuela-oil-sale-trump/

2026-01-15 Machado gave Trump her Nobel Prize.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/15/americas/venezuela-machado-trump-meeting-nobel-intl-hnk

2026-01-16 Machado held a press conference in Washington DC at the Heritage Foundation to discuss her resolution to support the US takeover of Venezuela.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/venezuela-acting-president-opposition-leader-navigate-new-relations-with-trump-2026-01-16/

2026 February

2026-02-24 During the State of the Union Trump joked about U.S. strikes on Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean that killed hundreds of people, “We very seriously damaged their fishing industry, also. Also, nobody wants – nobody wants to go fishing anymore”.

https://stluciatimes.com/178617/2026/02/trump-acknowledges-us-campaign-has-damaged-fishing-industry/

2026 March

2026-03-26 The US Treasury blocked funds for captured Maduro and his wife to pay their legal fees. Judge Alvin Hellerstein asked, “What’s the interest of the government now in blocking those funds? We are doing business in Venezuela. The defendant is here; Flores is here. They present no further national security threat”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFkuH7GRX8&list=WL&index=1&t=388s

https://www.kktv.com/2026/03/26/nicols-maduros-lawyer-argues-against-us-blocking-funding-drug-trafficking-case-defense/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/nyregion/maduro-venezuela-court-manhattan.html

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/venezuelas-maduro-due-back-us-court-dispute-over-legal-fees-2026-03-26

2026 April

2026-04-13 The U.S. military struck another vessel in the Pacific, killing two people. The Pentagon did not provide any evidence the vessel was involved in narcotics trafficking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4ZKsiMUAyY

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/14/us-military-boat-strike-eastern-pacific

2026-04-13 Chevron set to expand oil extraction operations in Venezuela.

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/14/headlines/chevron_set_to_expand_oil_extraction_operations_in_venezuela

https://www.chevron.com/newsroom/2026/q2/chevron-consolidates-venezuela-heavy-oil-position-in-asset-swap

PAYWALL https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-13/venezuela-set-to-award-oil-fields-to-chevron-to-help-grow-output

COOKIES https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260414-venezuela-chevron-strike-deals-to-expand-oil-operations-in-key-region

2026-04-23 A U.S. soldier was charged after making $400,000 on Maduro’s arrest in a Polymarket bet.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-arrests-soldier-accused-betting-400000-maduro-removal-abc-news-reports-2026-04-23/

https://abcnews.com/US/doj-arrests-soldier-made-400000-betting-maduros-removal/story?id=132325426

2026-04-26 The U.S. struck another boat, claiming once again without merit it was transporting narcotics.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/3-killed-latest-us-military-strike-alleged-drug-boat-eastern-pacific-rcna342242

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/27/us-three-killed-boat-alleged-narco-eastern-pacific

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/27/us/video/us-strikes-alleged-drug-boat-ldn-digvid-vrtc

2026 May

2026-05-04 The U.S. struck another boat in the Caribbean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm8A5yBW2RM

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-kills-2-during-latest-strike-on-alleged-drug-boats-traveling-in-the-caribbean-sea

https://apnews.com/article/drug-cartels-boat-strikes-military-trump-084ee7b1071dede21ea64afa9daf2ea2

2026 June

2026-06-22 Kenneth Roth posted, “The summary execution of two more in an alleged drug boat brings the number of murders ordered by Trump to more than 210. There will come a day when he faces prosecution for these crimes.

https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2069015024660566376

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/23/headlines/pentagon_says_latest_attack_on_alleged_drug_boat_killed_two_leaving_six_survivors

2026-06-25 Twin earthquakes devastated Venezuela.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KENftuhiU8s&list=WL&index=1

https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/6/25/venezuela-struggles-to-respond-to-devastating-twin-earthquakes

2026-06-29 Nearly 50,000 people remained missing in Venezuela after the earthquake.

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/29/headlines/nearly_50_000_remain_missing_in_venezuela_as_earthquake_rescue_efforts_pivot_to_recovery

2026-06-30 The UNs Resident Coordinator in Venezuela reported they were ordering 10K body bags.

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/hopes-finding-more-survivors-venezuela-earthquakes-fade-2026-06-30/

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/un-to-provide-10000-body-bags-to-venezuela-after-quakes/

2026-06-30 US Immigration sent detainees to Venezuela in the aftermath of the earthquake.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3eyxjy01y3o