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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Tiago Rogero, South America correspondent

Trump’s shadow war in Venezuela grows, but country’s strongman leader still clings to power

A person holds a poster depicting Trump as a pirate that says: 'We don't want you, Trump.'
A protestor rides a motorcycle adorned with a poster with the image of Donald Trump, during a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, on 22 December 2025. Photograph: Ronald Pena R/EPA

Nearly a week after Donald Trump first announced what he said was the first US ground strike in a four-month-long military pressure campaign against Venezuela, details remain very thin on the ground.

CNN and the New York Times reported late on Monday that they had confirmed the CIA had used a drone to target a “port facility” allegedly used by the Tren de Aragua street gang. No casualties were reported, but the date, time and location of the attack remain unknown. Venezuela’s strongman leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his government have remained silent.

If confirmed, the first strike on land would mark a new phase in a campaign that since August has involved the deployment of a massive US naval fleet, airstrikes that have so far killed 107 people, a “total blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers, the seizure of two vessels and the pursuit of a third.

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