Venezuela’s Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez has announced that Nicolás Maduro is prepared to declare a state of emergency if the US launches a military attack, warning of “catastrophic” consequences.
The Trump administration has intensified pressure on Caracas recently, deploying naval forces in the Caribbean and conducting air strikes on Venezuelan boats, which have resulted in at least 17 deaths. Washington claims these operations target Latin American drug cartels smuggling cocaine and fentanyl into the US, but many suspect they may be a prelude to a wider military intervention aimed at ending Maduro’s 12-year rule.
Rodríguez dismissed the US’s drug war rationale as “a big lie,” accusing the US of seeking to seize Venezuela’s vast natural resources, including its oil, gas, gold, minerals, and biological wealth. She attributed the US’s aggressive stance to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom she labeled “the Lord of War.”
Venezuela: US launches a military attack
If a state of emergency is declared, Maduro would gain expanded powers to mobilize the armed forces, close borders, and place the military in control of critical infrastructure. Rodríguez pledged that Venezuela would never surrender its sovereignty and warned that those who publicly support a US invasion would face consequences, saying, “Those who openly call for an invasion cannot consider themselves Venezuelan.”
While some experts initially viewed Trump’s campaign as political theater, recent deadly strikes condemned as unlawful extrajudicial killings by legal experts and Latin American leaders have raised concerns about further escalation. NBC News reported that US military officials are planning possible drone strikes targeting drug traffickers in Venezuela within the coming weeks.
Phil Gunson, a Caracas-based analyst, said a full-scale invasion is unlikely but suggested that limited military actions, such as missile or bomb attacks on drug-related targets, remain possible.
