Trump’s Dirty War in the Caribbean

Washington’s addiction to regime change has found a new victim — Venezuela

When power turns lawless, the result is not policy but brutality. The latest revelation that Donald Trump secretly authorized the CIA to conduct lethal operations in Venezuela exposes the United States’ old imperial reflex — to destroy what it cannot control. Cloaked in the language of “national security,” Washington is once again exporting death under the banner of democracy.

According to The New York Times, Trump’s inner circle — led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe — gave the agency sweeping authority to target Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, with or without military coordination. This covert license coincides with Trump’s deadly boat bombings in the Caribbean that have already claimed civilian lives. What began as a “war on drugs” now reeks of a war for oil and geopolitical dominance.

The much-hyped “America First” doctrine has mutated into an unapologetic form of gunboat diplomacy. History is repeating itself — coups in Guatemala, Chile, and Nicaragua are being replayed in a new theater. By designating drug cartels as “terrorist organizations,” Trump has arrogated to himself the right to kill without consequence, erasing the last boundaries between law and lawlessness.

Human rights groups call it what it is — murder. Even Colombian President Gustavo Petro warns that a new war zone has opened in the Caribbean, a tragic reminder that Washington’s militarism remains as indiscriminate as ever. The Caribbean, once a symbol of trade and culture, risks becoming another testing ground for American aggression.

Trump’s Venezuela campaign is not a policy — it is a crime unfolding in real time. Behind the patriotic slogans lies the same old formula: destabilize, divide, and dominate.

Empires do not collapse when they are challenged — they collapse when they mistake impunity for strength. Trump’s dirty war in the Caribbean may well be remembered as that fatal arrogance, when America’s moral compass finally sank beneath its own waves.

Israel allows entry of Lebanese workers for olive harvest

Israeli army announced on Tuesday that as a gesture of goodwill, it had allowed Lebanese agricultural workers to enter the country in order to harvest olive trees. The workers from Lebanese border towns have been allowed to enter Israeli territory under supervision.

"In light of the economic situation in Lebanon, and as a gesture of goodwill to the Lebanese people, the IDF opened the border to agricultural workers from Al Jabal, Itaron and Balida."

"The IDF allowed the workers to cross the Blue Line, to a certain extent, allowing them to harvest olive trees in Israeli territory. This gesture was reported to the Lebanese side by UNIFIL."

The move came just two days after IDF soldiers and Israel Police foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons and drugs across Israel’s border with Lebanon.

The economic crisis leaves the IDF concerned that there may be an increase of drug smuggling and infiltration of migrant workers and refugees along the northern border.

Lebanon and Israel are also in dispute over the delineation of their territorial waters. Negotiations between the old foes could lead to Lebanon being able to unlock valuable gas reserves amid its financial crisis.

Some two million tons of olives harvested annually worldwide, most of which is used for making olive oil. In commercial terms, olives are one of the most important fruits grown in Israel, with olive plantations in the mountains of the Galilee, on the coastal plain, in the mountains of Samaria and Ephraim.