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Right-wing Spanish-language media promote the Trump administration's escalation in the Caribbean

Fox Noticias pundit: “Hopefully it will achieve the exit of the Maduro regime once and for all”

Written by Janos Balazs & Monica Rodriguez

Published

Since news broke on September 2 that the Trump administration had started targeting alleged drug trafficking boats off the coast of Venezuela, right-wing Spanish-language media have echoed the Trump administration's messaging on the strikes, voicing support for the campaign and promoting further escalation in the region.  

Some Spanish-language pundits and guests have suggested that the U.S. “neutralize” alleged cartel members “without the need to criminally prosecute and try them,” that the drug trade in Venezuela must be “decapitated,” and that “this is going to end up somehow very badly” for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

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  • The Trump administration has bombed boats and built up a military presence in the Caribbean based on dubious drug-trafficking claims

    • The United States has carried out attacks against at least 14 alleged drug-smuggling vessels, in which at least 61 people have been killed, in the Caribbean and the Pacific since September 2. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have claimed the boats carried drugs and were being operated by “narco-terrorists.” After the first strike, Trump claimed that the people on the boat were members of Tren de Aragua, which the United States has classified as a terrorist organization. [NBC News, 10/29/25; The New York Times, 10/6/25, 10/21/25, 10/29/25; USA Today, 10/2/25; The Guardian, 10/28/25]
    • As Trump's bombings have expanded in the region, experts have questioned whether the boats actually contain dangerous drug smugglers, and leaders in the Southern hemisphere have said some of the targets were fishermen or other citizens. According to The New York Times, experts say there are “strong indications that the administration is not killing important drug traffickers,” citing the administration's decision to return two survivors of one of the attacks to their native Ecuador and Colombia rather than detain and prosecute them. Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, has accused the United States of killing a Colombian fisherman and other Colombian citizens. In response, Trump referred to Petro as an “illegal drug dealer.” [The New York Times, 10/23/25]
    • The Trump administration claims it can target Latin American drug cartels in part because of high numbers of American drug overdoses, even though the main drug involved reportedly comes from Mexico. A confidential notice sent to Congress said the Trump administration “determined” that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and that members of the organizations could be targeted as “unlawful combatants.” The categorization places the cartels in the same category as terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda or ISIS. The administration describes the strikes as “self-defense,” pointing to the thousands of Americans who die each year from overdoses. But the country's recent surge in overdose deaths has been driven by fentanyl, a substance believed to come from Mexico rather than South America. [The New York Times, 10/2/25; NBC News, 10/2/25]
    • Trump announced during a press conference that he would start pursuing suspected drug traffickers on land and increase the scope of his military strikes against them, arguing that he has the “legal authority” to carry out such strikes. He also said that he was not certain if the administration would ask Congress for permission to execute said strategy. [AP News, 10/23/25; The Guardian, 10/23/25]
    • Trump gave the CIA permission to carry out covert operations in Venezuela and has built up a military presence in the Caribbean. According to the most recent reports, about 10,000 troops have been sent to the region, half of them to Puerto Rico and the other half on warships. The USS Gravely, a guided-missile destroyer, was sent to Trinidad and Tobago. This marks the largest U.S. military deployment to the region in decades. Experts say the directive to the CIA could empower the agency to kill suspected drug traffickers or destabilize the Maduro regime. [BBC, 10/16/25, 10/26/25; The Guardian, 9/3/25, 10/22/25; The New York Times, 10/24/25; Reuters, 9/6/25, 10/6/25]

  • Right-wing Spanish-language media figures and guests defended the strikes as “legitimate” and “necessary” to stop the flow of drugs into the U.S.

    • In a Fox Noticias segment about the strikes, host Rachel Campos-Duffy claimed, “The Trump administration is finally applying the pressure that former President Biden never dared to exert, and that pressure is necessary.” [Fox Deportes, Fox Noticias, 9/3/25]
    • On Cada Tarde, Mario Duarte, an intelligence expert, said, “Any specific action coming from the cartels is clearly considered an act of war, and then the United States has the right to act.” Duarte claimed that drug traffickers are a “legitimate target” when trying to traffic drugs into the United States. [Actualidad Radio, Cada Tarde, 9/3/25]
    • Campos-Duffy said that “if you are a criminal trafficking lethal drugs into this country that kill its people, you will face lethal consequences.” She added that “President Trump is not sorry” about the boat strikes. [Fox Deportes, Fox Noticias, 9/4/25]
    • On Cada Tarde, businessman Raul Mas Canosa said the U.S. has a “right to intervene” and that Trump is sending “the message” that “the war on drugs is and will be a real war.” Mas Canosa claimed that “the rules of the game are changing … in different aspects of national security.” He also claimed that the Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary say that “we have the right to intervene in countries in Latin America.” [Actualidad Radio, Cada Tarde, 9/5/25]
    • On Voz News, Alfonso Aguilar, the former chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship, said that “it is absolutely necessary for the United States to have the alternative of neutralizing” Venezuelan cartel members and can do so “without the need to criminally prosecute and try them.” He added, “The security of the United States is at stake. ... These cartels present an imminent danger to the security of the United States, which is why we can proceed in this way.” [Voz Media, Voz News, 10/7/25]
    • On Mucho que Decir, Luis Fleischman, a sociology professor at Palm Beach State College, said, “I'm not sure that Trump will do anything directly against the Maduro regime, but I think attacking these drug trafficking ships is a very important element.” He added, “It is important to eliminate drug trafficking, and finally, the president is doing what he has to do.” [La Nueva Poderosa, Mucho que Decir, 10/3/25]
    • On Linea Directa Plus, guest Jesus Romero said that in the context of “threats that face the North American government,” the U.S. “has the right to carry out any sort of operation. It should not be seen as an invasion or interference.” This was in response to Linea Directa Plus host Sanchez Grass saying that if the U.S. sends assets to Venezuela, even if it’s in a “surgical” operation, it would be “technically considered an invasion. … To the world, it would be the U.S. invading Venezuela. This seems like a simple semantic, but it’s a very powerful semantic.” [Radio Mambi, Linea Directa Plus, 9/9/25]
    • Cada Tarde host Agustín Acosta compared drug traffickers to suicide bombers, justifying Trump’s targeting of boats. Acosta posed the question, “What practical difference is there between a terrorist who is trained to be a pilot, hijacks a plane, and crashes it into a building killing 3000 people, and an individual who trains how to pilot a boat or a ship bringing 2 or 3 tons of drugs which will end up killing thousands of people by overdose?” He answered, “None.” [Actualidad Radio, Cada Tarde, 9/23/25]
    • On Fox Noticias, guest Jesus Romero claimed that Trump is deploying “a military contingent to carry a message, not only to President Maduro, but also to all the criminals." Romero added that “the message” and “the response of the president of the United States” is to “return peace and tranquility and to stop the flow of drug trafficking into the United States.” [Fox Deportes, Fox Noticias, 9/26/25]

  • Some right-wing Spanish-language media figures and guests promoted further escalation, with some calling for military action or regime change in Venezuela

    • On Voz News, Alfonso Aguilar claimed, “There have been several articles suggesting that the administration may be interested, that the intention could even be regime change. I do not know. I hope so. I would love to see it.” [Voz Media, Voz News, 9/22/25]
    • Aguilar claimed, “The United States knows exactly where Nicolás Maduro is, even if he moves, they know where he is, and they could neutralize him with a missile very easily.” He added, “The United States has that capacity, and that is something Maduro has to consider.” [Voz Media, Voz News, 10/22/25]
    • Agustín Acosta claimed that “out of the triumvirate of dictatorships” in Latin America, “Venezuela is the easiest to eliminate.” He later added that a “strong action” against Venezuela would send a “message” to China. [Actualidad Radio, Cada Tarde, 9/16/25]
    • Agustín Acosta said, “This is going to end up somehow very badly for Maduro.” Acosta added that Maduro has the “same status that Osama Bin Laden once had” as “they labeled him the head of a terrorist organization” and could be targeted with “a missile, a Tomahawk.” [Actualidad Radio, Cada Tarde, 9/2/25]
    • On Fox Noticias, former defense minister of Colombia Juan Carlos Pinzón said, “The military operation that is underway in the Caribbean by the United States has generated a lot of anticipation, a lot of hope among the Venezuelan and Colombian people, because hopefully it will achieve the exit of the Maduro regime once and for all.” [Fox Deportes, Fox Noticias, 9/26/25]
    • Jaime Florez, the Hispanic communications director for the Republican National Committee, claimed that Trump “cannot come out of this situation without having achieved the task that we all hope he will achieve in the shortest possible time.” He added, “I refuse to accept that he is going to go down in history as the phrase veni, vidi, and I didn't do anything.” This is seemingly a reference to the Latin phrase typically attributed to Julius Caesar, translated as “I came, I saw, I conquered.” [Actualidad Radio, Cada Tarde, 10/02/25; The Wrap, 10/21/2011]
    • Cada Tarde guest Frank Rodriguez said, “I believe this is the end of the Maduro regime in Venezuela,” and argued that interventions in other countries “must be sold to the electorate.” Agustín Acosta added that and in this case, “we have the victims of drugs.” [Actualidad Radio, Cada Tarde, 9/16/25]
    • In an appearance on Fox Noticias, former political prisoner Ivan Simonovis responded to a question about possible military intervention in Venezuela by claiming there are “at least 600 identified objectives inside Venezuela connected to the regime” to target. He added that this was “not about the U.S. invading” Venezuela, but that the U.S. military would “neutralize these 600 objectives.” [Fox Deportes, Fox Noticias, 10/7/25]
    • On Mucho Que Decir, guest Raymond Molina said sinking boats was “the first message of a plan they have under way, obviously to end the Maduro regime.” He added that “this is the first phase — the second phase is coming. Obviously this is meant to give Maduro a message that he doesn’t have the slightest chance to escape Venezuela.” [La Nueva Poderosa, Mucho Que Decir, 10/10/25]
    • Cada Tarde co-host Carlos Acosta said the Venezuelan drug trade needs to be “decapitated” because “they have political power … and military power,” including “guerrillas” and “Hezbollah.” Agustín Acosta agreed, saying, “We’re not talking about a criminal gang here, we’re talking about armies with firepower.” [Actualidad Radio, Cada Tarde, 10/7/25]
    • Regarding the scale of U.S. military resources in the Caribbean, Agustín Acosta said, “There is no other solution than to go in and get those rats out.” [Actualidad Radio, Cada Tarde, 10/21/25]
    • On Fox Noticias, guest Jovel Alvarez said, “I hope that President Donald Trump takes the initiative to remove Maduro from power.” He added that Trump could “practically” become the “liberator of Venezuela.” [Fox Deportes, Fox Noticias, 10/15/25]