December 3, 2025

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Military tensions between the United States and Venezuela are rapidly escalating.

The U.S. military has been conducting aggressive strike operations in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean under the pretext of stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the United States since early September of this year. To date, it has carried out 21 strikes on boats it claims are involved in drug smuggling, killing at least 83 people.

It is true that drug-related overdose deaths are rising in the United States, posing a significant social challenge. However, the U.S. government has provided no concrete evidence that the vessels targeted in its series of deadly attacks were carrying drugs, or that the crewmembers were drug smugglers.

The Japanese Communist Party strongly condemns these extrajudicial killings as these are in violation of international human rights law.

Some argue that the operations have an objective other than counternarcotics.

The U.S. military has deployed its largest naval force of this century in Caribbean waters, dubbed “Operation Southern Spear”. In addition to warships, including amphibious assault ships, the state-of-the-art nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford entered the Caribbean Sea in mid-November. This brings the total number of U.S. troops in the area to more than15,000.

According to an analysis of satellite imagery reveals that these warships are being deployed near Venezuela, outside the alleged drug-trafficking routes. Clearly, the U.S. Trump administration is employing coercive measures against Venezuelan President Maduro.

Reportedly, the U.S. side is demanding that President Maduro immediately relinquish power.

If the Trump government is attempting regime change in Venezuela through military means, this would constitute a grave violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and interference in internal affairs. Furthermore, the use or threat of force, under any pretext or circumstance, is impermissible in international law.

Many people are concerned that the U.S. actions may signal a return to 19th-century gunboat diplomacy, when Latin America was viewed as the U.S. backyard, and U.S. intervention and military intimidation through “gunboat diplomacy” was common. Such actions would be anachronistic with no place in the modern world and would also run directly counter to the international order based on the UN Charter and international law.

The Japanese government, whose prime minister emphasized the “rule of law” at the latest G20 discussions, should not stand idly by and watch the ongoing U.S.-Venezuela crisis as a distant fire not involving Japan.