Chronology of an outrage against Our America

Via Granma and the Communist Party of Cuba, translated from the Spanish

U.S. actions against Venezuela have been marked by a steady escalation of economic and diplomatic sanctions dating back to Obama and including the first Trump Administration and the Biden Administration, all of which laid the groundwork for US military aggression.

2015

March: Then-U.S. President Barack Obama declared a national emergency against Venezuela, after considering that the political situation in the Caribbean country constituted "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to Washington's security and foreign policy. Decree 13692 laid the legal foundations for the imposition of unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela.

2017

The first significant financial sanctions are imposed, targeting specific Venezuelan government officials.

Trump promulgates Decree 13808, through which he prohibited the direct or indirect purchase of securities from the Government of Venezuela; intensifying the financial boycott and the policy of isolation of private and public banks, and seriously affecting the operations of the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Sharp drop in the nation's import capacity.

2018

More sanctions were applied after the presidential election, which was considered fraudulent by the US.

Trump issued Decree number 13827, which prohibits any transaction related to the issuance and use of any type of electronic money, digital currency or digital token by the Government of Venezuela. Weeks earlier, Venezuela had launched the Petro cryptocurrency.

May: After Maduro's re-election, they lash out with Decree 13835, which intensified the prohibitions of transactions or operations to refinance the Venezuelan debt.

In November, with Executive Order 13850, Trump established a framework to block assets and prohibit transactions by people operating in the gold sector or "in any other sector of the economy as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury."

2019

The United States recognized Juan Guaidó as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela, ignoring the authority of Nicolás Maduro, intensifying diplomatic pressure and unleashing economic aggression in all its magnitude.

In January, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control classified PDVSA as a "designated company." All assets and holdings of the state-owned oil company within U.S. jurisdiction (including the subsidiary Citgo) were blocked, and U.S. citizens and companies were generally prohibited from conducting operations with the company.

In August, Executive Order 13884 expanded the sanctions program to the level of an "embargo."

2020

Trump sent a letter to the U.S. Congress to extend "beyond March 8, 2020" Executive Order 13692, regarding the situation in Venezuela.

The Bolivarian Government filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague against the U.S. authorities for "crimes against humanity against the Venezuelan people."

The U.S. Department of Justice filed formal indictments against Nicolás Maduro and other top officials for drug trafficking and "narcoterrorism," offering a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

2024

Maduro wins Venezuela's presidential election; however, the opposition and the U.S. government recognize Edmundo González as the legitimate winner.

2025

July: The Trump administration included the Cartel of the Suns, which it described as a "Venezuela-based criminal group," on a list of global terrorist groups, and declared Maduro to be its leader.

August: Trump signed a secret order directing the U.S. military to use force against Latin American drug cartels that his administration identified as terrorist organizations. An increase in naval presence and the deployment of U.S. warships in the Caribbean Sea were reported as part of counter-narcotics operations.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the government had increased the reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest to $50 million.

September: U.S. airstrikes are reported against boats suspected of transporting drugs, killing 11 people. Maduro called the attack a "heinous crime," and said the U.S. should have captured those on board if they were believed to be carrying drugs.

The U.S. military then attacked two more small boats, killing six more people.

In response, two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over U.S. warships in the Caribbean in a show of force following the first deadly attack on a vessel.

Maduro sent a letter to Trump insisting that his country did not export drugs. The White House responded that it had not changed its position.

October: Trump confirmed authorizing CIA covert operations in Venezuela. In addition, he instructed Richard Grenell, special envoy and president of the Kennedy Center, to suspend all diplomatic relations with Venezuela.

The U.S. military carried out an attack on a semi-submersible vessel in the Caribbean Sea, killing two men on board. Two other people were rescued.

Several Venezuelan vessels were attacked in that period, leaving more dead. Trump signaled at a news conference that he would not seek congressional approval to carry out military strikes against drug traffickers, and the Pentagon announced that the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford and accompanying warships and attack planes would be deployed in waters near Latin America.

November: Trump declared, in an interview aired on CBS's 60 Minutes, that he did not completely rule out the possibility of ground attacks on Venezuela.

The U.S. attacks against alleged drug cartels were now over 20 and raised the known number of people killed to 80.

The New York Times reported that Trump and Maduro had spoken to discuss a possible meeting.

Trump said on social media that the airspace "over and around Venezuela" should be considered "closed in its entirety," although he had no authority to do so.

December: An attack in the eastern Pacific killed four people at a time of heightened scrutiny of the legality of the U.S. military campaign, and nearly two weeks after the previous attack on a ship.

Trump announced the seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. New measures were imposed on Venezuela's oil sector and Maduro's relatives. Tens of millions of dollars worth of oil were blocked aboard the seized tanker.

On December 15, the U.S. military attacked three vessels in the eastern Pacific, killing eight people, because "the vessels were sailing on a known drug trafficking route."

In that same month, Trump ordered a "total blockade" of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela and three more attacks took place.

At the end of the year, the U.S. Coast Guard attempted to intercept the oil tanker Bella 1 and detained the Panamanian-flagged vessel Centuries, which was carrying Venezuelan oil for China.

For several days, the U.S. military intensified its operations in the Caribbean, sending several C-17 transport flights from bases throughout the U.S. and Japan to Puerto Rico.

Drone attacks also took place on a port facility and on several vessels. As of December 31, at least 115 people had been killed in 35 attacks on boats since September 2.

2026

January: Aggressions reached a critical point, triggering a major military crisis, with an increase in military deployment. The operation combined precision air strikes to suppress defenses and a special forces helicopter raid.

Key Objectives: The Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base (La Carlota), in downtown Caracas, was disabled to prevent aircraft takeoff or air escape. Fuerte Tiuna, the central military complex and headquarters of the Ministry of Defense, was hit with precision munitions, as were installations in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.

Trump announced, on January 3, the success of the operation on the social network Truth Social, and reported that the United States had "captured" Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, whom he was transferring to New York, to stand trial.

Sources: Government of Venezuela, The New York Times, Razones de Cuba and Russia Today

This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC