At this moment, there’s nothing more urgent, due to its seriousness, than denouncing the deployment of US naval and air units in the southern Caribbean, off Venezuela.

Once again, the MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit), the US Marines, are announced to have been mobilized, and not for useless maneuvers or some humanitarian aid sham, no, once again to threaten, so that the empire, in its decadent mode, can bare its fangs.

As is well known, since at least the beginning of the 20th century, the United States has considered the Caribbean its mare nostrum, despite having no geographical border with that warm western part of the Atlantic Ocean. Consequently, it was necessary to act as a continental police force, according to the historic "Roosevelt Corollary" of 1904.

This bizarre vision of the US authorities once again completely ignores the 1945 UN Charter and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which clearly require the peaceful use of oceans, including international waters.

The current deployment, approved off-screen by the Nobel Peace Prize hopeful and principal resident of the White House, is a creation promoted by his secretary of state, chief national security advisor, and administrator of the national archives, among the various positions Mr. Rubio holds.

It’s abundantly clear that the argument used against Venezuela, its alleged collaboration with drug trafficking, is absolutely untrue; but as we know, there are other motivations for such a mobilization, and it’s necessary to reiterate, because it seems to be misunderstood, the causes and purposes of this new act of war in the Caribbean.

Indeed, it’s not drugs or their northward flow that occupies the minds of US strategists; it’s the sea of oil in which Venezuela floats, it’s the gold and lithium reserves, in hyperabundant quantities, and it’s its geographical location that matters.

More ideological considerations are added, so to speak; it’s the example that represents a popular process that has been able to deal with countless sanctions, terrorist attacks, and even, according to speculation, the assassination or ultimately the death of its founding leader, Hugo Chávez.

And for die-hard anti-Cubans, like the aforementioned Mr. Rubio, the Bolivarian Revolution is proof that the continental liberation process initiated by the Cuban Revolution continues, and that it’s possible for the rest of the peoples of Our America, each according to their particularities.

By the time Mr. Rubio got into office last January, he had already accumulated an anti-Chavez record, which he added to his corrupt obsession with the Cuban Revolution. Then came the colossal disaster of Operation Guaidó, in which then-Senator Rubio clearly played a significant role, the electoral defeat of the Venezuelan far right in July of last year, and, in that context, Venezuela's emancipatory advances, at a time of promising international geopolitical changes.

And Mr. Rubio certainly did what he does best: implementing a multifaceted media campaign, which includes the ridiculous absurdity of implicating Maduro in drug trafficking, attempted terrorist attacks, subversive plans of all kinds, and, of course, the threat of war, a euphemistically called flexing his military muscles, seeking to subdue Chavismo, stimulate its internal rupture, or betray the Bolivarian Armed Forces.

This military display itself has many facets. They range from the scale of the operation, both in terms of media and personnel involved, its usefulness, and even the way its implementation is communicated or publicized.

Because there’s no chance of achieving the desired objectives—threats and blackmail—without a major media action capable of intimidation.

Thus, ever since the operation was announced, thanks to the interested cooperation of the Reuters news agency, reports have emerged about the departure of a powerful naval detachment, comprised of destroyers, submarines, amphibious barges, and spy aircrafts—as described—and aboard all of them some 4,500 marines, typically incapable of winning a war.

Seeking greater credibility, it was specified that they would depart from North Carolina, which, on the contrary, raised reasonable doubts about how the expeditionaries and their ships would evade the winds and onslaught of Hurricane Ernie, which was then ferociously battering the coasts of that territory.

An article from a television station even went so far as to cast doubt on the very existence of the deployment, under the logic, so to speak, formal, that at the time of issuing that opinion, no US authority had officially confirmed this operation.

The point is that the ships and at least one plane did leave, it's irrelevant from where, and although the mobilization doesn't seem to be on the scale promised for now, ships are already sailing in international waters bordering the Venezuelan coast. According to public information, they are carrying more than 90 missiles and other weapons on board, intended to murder innocent people, as is usually the case with US invasions around the world.

The commotion conceived by Mr. Rubio concentrates within itself a host of contradictions, fabricated lies, and other fallacies. Let's take it a step at the time.

First contradiction: To begin with, the cost of this operation is estimated at approximately $1.5 billion if it only lasts three months; if it’s extended for a year, it would exceed $6 billion. It’s cumbersome to describe each expense item, considering only logistics, fuel, the salaries of those involved, aircraft maintenance, security and intelligence coverage, and much more. Question: What becomes of Trump's campaign promise to reduce federal spending in the face of the country's unmanageable debt?

One could argue, as a way to justify this waste, that defense spending is inevitable, especially in a government suffering from a hegemony complex. But US strategists know full well that when it comes to drug trafficking, Venezuela is not the real enemy, and that the narrative on the matter seeks to present a frankly nonexistent justification of national security.

Second contradiction: Military experts and scholars of these types of events agree that the creation of a system like the one described is practically useless in fighting drug trafficking. There’s a concrete example: according to the UN World Drug Report, opioid use in the US increased by 20% in 2024 compared to 2020, the year in which Trump implemented a similar operation, dislocating numerous ships in a war effort off Venezuela.

Third contradiction: Assembling this war machine, which is clearly quite expensive and ineffective, could only have two ends: one, that at some point the ships, submarines, and others would return to their ports of origin, and two, that they would invade Venezuela. If the second option is successful, as Mr. Rubio is seeking, this would go against the aspirations of the MAGA base, the Trumpist electoral political movement.

And yes, MAGA doesn't want to hear anything about the involvement of armed forces in any foreign adventure; this is what some of this movement's most prominent ideologues have expressed, even referring to larger military conflicts for the US, such as an attack on Iran or the war in Ukraine, or the supposed six wars that Trump claims he has managed to stop in his few months in office.

There is a fourth, and no less significant, contradiction or challenge that the empire would have to deal with. If the end of the unipolar world accelerates further, with alternative blocs emerging to the colonialist and aggressive West, with the US at the forefront, it’s obvious, even if Mr. Rubio doesn't understand it, that a better relationship with the aforementioned backyard, Our America, is increasingly essential for that country.

It's not clear that the "natural" arrogance of the empire and of Trump himself would allow him to be able or know how to deal with this last issue, but it’s something absolutely beyond his control; But just look at the bravado, trying to seize Greenland, part of Mexico, the Panama Canal, or turn Canada into another state, just to mention the most widely publicized delusions.

In any case, several Latin American governments, such as those of Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, and Colombia, and of course ALBA-TCP, have already warned in a timely manner that this deployment is unacceptable because it undermines regional peace—remember, the most peaceful region in the world—without credible reason or justification.

As for Venezuela, there's no doubt that it’s well prepared for any outcome that involves physical aggression; they have been preparing for years for a contingency against their right to independence, and they have 4.5 million militia members for this purpose.

To make matters worse for the far-right opposition, this type of threat unites sectors around the government, along with Maduro, that even under other circumstances would be opposition or "apolitical."

Ultimately, a threat to independence becomes a formidable incentive to unite Venezuelans and with them, Latin Americans, in defense of that sacred legacy that the epic of Bolívar, the liberator of the Americas, left as a hereditary legacy.  
Mr. Rubio should be asked if he understands what this last tradition means and if he hopes to repeat the cruelty seen in Gaza. Probably not; he'd be better off not stirring up this hornet's nest too much.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSi Translation Staff