cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/38416549

Ryan Grim
and Saagar Enjeti
Nov 01, 2025

At an Oval Office meeting in early October, Trump administration officials and top generals discussed escalating the pressure on Venezuela to go beyond the semi-regular attacks on boats in the Caribbean where fourteen boats have been struck, killing at least 57 people. The discussed plans include striking on land inside Venezuela, a source at the high-level gathering told Drop Site. The same October 2 meeting included a previously reported directive from President Trump, who dialed his special envoy Richard Grenell into the call, telling him to cut off diplomatic communications with Maduro. That order was previously reported by the New York Times.

In the wake of the meeting, the intelligence community was tasked with coming up with a more tangible list of targets on land. The problem, however, was that because of Venezuela’s lack of significant involvement in the drug trade, the sites were largely in Colombia and Mexico, though did include small sites along the Colombia-Venezuela border, a zone relatively not under state control and where coca-growing flourishes.