Latin America countries oppose US military deployments in Venezuelan waters

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Latin America countries oppose US military deployments in Venezuelan waters

2025-08-23 17:16 Last Updated At：20:57

Concerns are mounting across several Latin American countries after the United States dispatched three Aegis guided-missile destroyers to the waters off Venezuela as part of President Trump's effort to combat threats from Latin American drug cartels.

On Wednesday, the 13th Extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) released a statement, strongly opposing recent U.S. military actions in the Caribbean region and reiterating support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The declaration emphasized that any foreign intervention would jeopardize the stability of Latin America and the Caribbean region. Member countries of the alliance unanimously condemned the malicious accusations made by U.S. judicial authorities against Venezuela.

Celso Amorim, special advisor to the president of Brazil, on Thursday expressed his deep concerns about the deployment of U.S. naval vessels near the Venezuelan coastline. He stated that opposing interventionism is a crucial and fundamental principle of Brazil's foreign policy. He strongly condemned the U.S. practices of linking drug trafficking with terrorism and using it as a pretext to take actions against other countries.

In addition, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Tuesday that Venezuela and Colombia share a 2,219-kilometer land border. He warned that iff the United States invades Venezuela, it will not only fail to solve the problem but also plunge Venezuela into turmoil and drag Colombia into the conflict.

Colombian economist Maximiliano Londono argued that U.S. initiative is primarily aimed at gaining control over Venezuela's abundant oil resources and may even intend to topple the country's leadership.

"The purpose of the United States threatening Venezuela with a military deployment in the Caribbean area, close to Venezuela, is to overthrow the government of Venezuela. It means a regime change. The message of Trump to the area, to the region, to our countries, to Latin America, is that the so-called Monroe Doctrine is coming again. And of course, the United States wants to take over control of oil. It's not the first time, since 1945 when the Second World War ended," he said.

Civilians recall horrible air strike in southern Lebanon

People in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre recalled the horrible scenes of an air strike on Thursday night, saying that the civilians suffer the most in the war.

After the Lebanese and Israeli governments announced a conditional ceasefire, the Israeli military carried out rounds of airstrikes in southern Lebanon, as unresolved disagreements between Israel and Hezbollah continued to stall ceasefire efforts.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported on Friday that Israeli airstrikes hit several locations in southern Lebanon, killing at least 13 people and wounding 15 others.

Ahmad al-Hsein, who runs a restaurant in Tyre, was on the scene when the strike came. He said all the civilian facilities in the area were severely damaged.

"We were here during the air strike, carrying out our humanitarian work, which is a small thing compared with what's happening. We were providing food to the people here, and during the air strike we were here in the restaurant. A civilian facility, a bank, was targeted, and the restaurant, which is also a civilian facility, was affected. There's nothing else. The entire impact was on the area around Jabal Amel Hospital. We don't know what the target was, there’s nothing there. All the wounded are civilians, and the casualties are civilian," he said.

Mahmoud Srour, a displaced from Teir Harfa, helped clear up the debris on the street following the strike.

"The air strike took place at around 22:30. As you can see, the scale of the destruction is immense. They targeted Bank Audi; there's nothing left here, they targeted a bank. The damage is very extensive. This is a civilian area; there are shops and a restaurant, and the bank is located here. Thank God, we were in the shop when the air strike happened, and chaos ensued. Thank God we were not hurt. There were no fatalities here, but there are wounded," he said.