The Trump administration has carried out at least seven military strikes off the coast of Venezuela over the past eight weeks, killing 32 people without publicly disclosing who was targeted. In this context, a new report by Axios reveals that the operations, part of what officials describe as an anti-narcotics campaign, have increasingly merged with a broader strategy aimed at toppling Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro.
"Officially, our position is we're there to stop narco-terrorists," a senior administration official told the outlet. "We're going to blow up their boats. And we're going to be patient about it. No one is in any rush."
