The Venezuelan Government is again calling on the United States military to desist from provoking a war in Caribbean waters after it claimed that a US warship “illegally assaulted” a fishing vessel with nine tuna fishermen on board.
The South American nation is advising the US to leave the region and calling on Americans to reject the use of its soldiers as “sacrificial pawns”.
In a media release yesterday, the Venezuelan Government claimed that on September 12, “The Venezuelan vessel, Carmen Rosa, manned by nine humble fishermen, sailing 48 nautical miles northeast of La Blanquilla Island, in waters belonging to the Venezuelan Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), was illegally and hostile (sic) assaulted by the US Navy destroyer USS Jason Dunham, equipped with powerful cruise missiles and manned by highly trained marines.”
Venezuela claims the warship deployed 18 troops with long weapons who boarded and occupied the small vessel for eight hours, “preventing communication and the normal activities of the fishermen who were engaged in authorised tuna fishing”.
The Venezuelan Government said the operation “lacked any strategic proportionality and constituted a direct provocation through the illegal use of excessive military means”.
The Latin American country believes whoever ordered that move is looking for an incident that will justify the escalation of “war” in the Caribbean.
“By placing their soldiers and officers as cannon fodder and exposing their lives once again, they repeat the history of other events that led to endless wars, such as Vietnam.”
The Government went on to say that this reflects “shameful behaviour” in Washington that irresponsibly committed extremely costly military resources to “fabricate pretexts for military adventures”.
Venezuela said its Bolivarian National Armed Forces monitored the situation at every turn without falling into provocations that would tarnish its desire for peace.
It is demanding that the US cease its actions and asking Americans to recognise the gravity of what is happening and reject the use of their soldiers as “sacrificial pawns” to sustain the “desires of greedy and predatory elite”.
On September 2, the US military conducted a strike on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea, killing 11 people. The incident has led to a significant increase in tensions between the United States and Venezuela.
The Trump administration claimed the vessel was a drug-carrying boat from Venezuela operated by members of the “Tren de Aragua” gang, which the US has designated as a foreign terrorist organisation.
Venezuelan officials have denied the US claims, stating that the 11 people killed were civilians, not gang members or drug traffickers. Venezuela’s Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello, has called the strike “a murder” and an “extrajudicial killing”, questioning why US forces did not attempt to arrest the individuals.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar issued a statement praising the US operation. In her statement, she said that the US military should “kill them all violently” when dealing with drug traffickers.
The United States has significantly increased its military presence in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela since late August 2025. This buildup is officially framed as a counter-narcotics campaign, with the Trump administration stating its goal is to combat drug cartels and prevent the flow of drugs into the U.S.
Venezuela, however, views this as an attempt to remove its President, Nicholas Maduro, whom the US State Department has put a $50 million bounty on.
