The president additionally designated the Venezuelan "regime" as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) and charged government officials with exploiting oil revenues for personal enrichment and funding drug terrorism. This action further amplifies the pressure Trump has applied against Venezuela as Washington attempts to compel Maduro's departure and warns of potential military intervention if he refuses.

Should Trump intend to classify the Maduro government as a foreign terrorist organization – a designation legally implemented by the State Department rather than the White House – Venezuela would become the first country ever to receive such status. Venezuela's government is already "blocked," a measure Trump enacted during his first term that prohibits any US person or entity from conducting business with it, according to the report.

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US forces seized an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast Wednesday that was sanctioned for alleged ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah, officials confirmed, according to CBS News. The vessel, identified as The Skipper, had been involved in "an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations" for multiple years, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated. President Donald Trump announced the capture during a White House meeting, saying the tanker was "seized for a very good reason" and indicating America would keep the oil cargo.

US commandos seized a substantial petroleum tanker near Venezuela Wednesday in a military operation, government sources confirmed, according to CBS News. President Donald Trump stated America would retain the vessel's oil cargo.

Video: Trump speaks about The Skipper off Venezuela on Dec. 10, 2025 / Credit: X/@FBIDirectorKash

Bloomberg initially reported the capture, which Trump announced during White House meetings as "seized for a very good reason," CBS News noted.

"As you probably know, we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large," Trump told attendees, per CBS News. "Largest one ever seized, actually. And other things are happening, so you'll be seeing that later and you'll be talking about that later with some other people."

Queried about the petroleum's fate, Trump replied, "Well we keep it, I guess," before stating, "I assume we're going to keep the oil," according to CBS News.

Caracas issued a denunciation "strongly denounces and repudiates what constitutes a shameless robbery and an act of international piracy," CBS News reported. "In these circumstances, the real reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been exposed. It's not migration. It's not drug trafficking. It's not democracy. It's not human rights. It was always about our natural wealth, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people," the Venezuelan statement declared.

Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple… pic.twitter.com/dNr0oAGl5x

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 10, 2025

Knowledgeable sources identified the vessel as "The Skipper", with action commencing around 6 a.m. Wednesday deploying two helicopters, 10 Coast Guard personnel, 10 Marines and specialized operators, senior officials told CBS News. Forces intercepted the tanker moments after its Venezuelan port departure.

Helicopters carrying Coast Guard Maritime Security and Response Team members – an elite interdiction unit from Chesapeake, Virginia – launched from the USS Gerald Ford, America's most sophisticated carrier currently stationed in Caribbean waters, CBS News reported.

Treasury imposed sanctions on The Skipper in 2022 for connections to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah, according to the report. The vessel formerly sailed as Adisa and The Toyo.

Attorney General Pam Bondi distributed seizure footage via social media, noting the tanker was "used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran" and was captured by FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and Coast Guard personnel, "with support from the Department of War," CBS News stated. "For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations," Bondi declared.

Coast Guard authorities directed the mission with Naval assistance, per CBS News. Though federal agencies have confiscated sanctioned tankers before, fast-rope helicopter boardings remain uncommon at sea.

Officials are evaluating further similar missions, sources told CBS News. Trump has warned about extending America's maritime campaign targeting alleged narcotics vessels onto Venezuelan territory. Washington dispatched two fighter aircraft over Venezuela's gulf this week amid regional force augmentation.

Last week during a Cabinet session, Trump informed journalists, "We're going to start doing those strikes on land, too," when questioned about maritime operations, CBS News reported. "You know, the land is much easier ... And we know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live. And we're going to start that very soon, too."

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio has raised the prospect of the 63-year-old socialist leader relocating to the gas-rich emirate, which is facilitating negotiations, a senior Trump administration source disclosed to The Post.

Five administration officials – three serving and two former – told The Post they view the arrangement as plausible.

"Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE love to do stuff like this. It helps build chits with the US," an administration-connected source remarked to The Post. "All three compete against each other – in the region and for the ultimate affection of the US."

However, a source knowledgeable about Qatar's Venezuela mediation efforts insisted to The Post that Maduro is not seeking residences in Doha. Qatar's rulers previously facilitated a Trump-proposed peace framework between Israel and Hamas, and the emirate had been hosting senior Hamas figures before Israeli airstrikes in September targeted them for elimination.

"It is untrue that Maduro is fleeing to Qatar," this person stated, according to The Post.

Trump contacted Maduro last week demanding immediate resignation, with the embattled Venezuelan leader reportedly suggesting a power transfer to his vice president alongside comprehensive amnesty for himself and confederates, The Post learned.

The State Department declined to comment when contacted, according to The Post.

Last month, the Trump administration classified Maduro and his associates as foreign terrorist organization members, broadening US military authority for Venezuela operations, The Post reported. Rubio branded the purported Cartel de los Soles, allegedly commanded by Maduro, "responsible for terrorist violence."

The White House has invoked the terrorist classification to legitimize military operations against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in Caribbean waters, including a September 2 dual strike that eliminated survivors, according to The Post.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt justified the continuing boat operations – which have eliminated at least 80 individuals – by citing "self-defense to protect Americans and vital United States interests."

Trump convened Monday afternoon with Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and additional senior officials to evaluate subsequent actions against Maduro, The Post reported.

US officials are presently collecting intelligence to shape recommendations, with a determination anticipated later this week or early next week, according to The Post.

One prospect involves targeting suspected narcotics smugglers within Venezuela's territorial boundaries – extending 12 nautical miles from shore, The Post learned. Such operations would intensify political demands on Trump to obtain congressional war authorization, as legislators across party lines have already rejected the boat operations conducted without their approval.

Trump declared on October 23 he was preparing congressional notification of plans for land operations inside Venezuela, but has delayed while pursuing Maduro's negotiated resignation and departure, according to The Post.

During Tuesday's Cabinet session, Trump issued warnings about striking land-based Venezuelan narcotics traffickers – and indicated Colombian operators also face danger, The Post reported. "Anybody that's doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack," Trump declared. "No, not just Venezuela."

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Machado (58) continues leading the opposition to Maduro from underground, almost completely disconnected from the world. The regime pinned false charges on her, her family members were forced to flee Maduro's terror, and hundreds of her supporters were thrown in prison. But María Corina Machado, the woman considered a symbol of the struggle for freedom and democracy in Venezuela, sounds confident in her cause and more determined than ever to successfully complete Venezuela's liberation mission.

"Venezuela's democratic movement today is stronger, more united, and more determined than ever. In 2023, millions of citizens chose me in historic primary elections – I received 93% of the votes. When I was banned from running, that same moral spirit rallied around Edmundo González Urrutia, who won the presidential election despite the harsh conditions rigged in the regime's favor. In the general election, he won more than 70% of the votes and defeated Maduro. We built a massive citizens' movement – an entire people united around the values of truth, justice, freedom, and dignity. We have one leadership and one goal – to restore our rights, return democracy, and see our children come home."

"Definitely. There are growing cracks in the military. The election reports we collected indicate that in polling stations located on military bases, most soldiers voted for opposition candidate González. The regime exercises particularly brutal terror on them – they and their families became victims of torture, disappearances, and crimes against humanity. They too support the transition to democracy, and they too are victims of Maduro's cruelty. Many of them are ready to stand with us when the moment arrives."

"Venezuelan communities outside the country are among the most educated and creative in the world. We're talking about almost a third of the country's population! They didn't leave because they gave up on Venezuela, but because they couldn't see a future under a system that destroyed every opportunity and under a regime that harmed all basic living conditions. And still, I tell them – even from afar, you continue to innovate, create, and represent the good in us. In the last election, we saw how your creative spirit and determination turned the process into one of the most impressive civilian initiatives in our history. Free Venezuela will call you to return – with your knowledge, experience, and passion – to build a country that rewards excellence and integrity. The day you return will be the rebirth of the Venezuela we dreamed of together. Your hearts never left. I dream of the day I'll stand on Simón Bolívar Bridge, the place from which I saw millions leaving, to welcome them on their return. The moment Maduro falls, hundreds of thousands will return, and then millions – doctors, engineers, teachers, and entrepreneurs."

Initially, when oil revenues were enormous, Chávez managed to buy loyalty through generous subsidies and social projects. But behind the social mask, an economic system was built that depended solely on oil, corrupt and inefficient. When world prices began falling, the economy collapsed. Instead of reforms, Chávez predictably chose to deepen suppression and blame the US and "global capitalism" for all troubles.

"Chávez's socialist doctrine was full of tempting but empty promises. He promised equality and turned all the people equally poor and equally humiliated. He nationalized several thousand companies, destroyed the productive economy, and demolished the education system and social services to rule through poverty and ignorance. Today, most children in Venezuela don't regularly attend school, pensions are worth less than a dollar a month, and the country is ruled by crime organizations and militias. Chávez and Maduro allied with the West's enemies – Russia, Iran, China, and Islamic terror organizations – and turned the country into a link in a hidden network of dictatorships and international crime. This wasn't a random mistake; it was intentional planning to destroy the republic and turn citizens into slaves."

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The Ford's strike group includes three destroyers and additional naval assets. It will join the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, F-35 fighter squadrons, a submarine and other units already in the area. According to a Reuters report, the aircraft carrier crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, effectively leaving the Middle East and the US Central Command's area of responsibility.

Since September, the US military has carried out airstrikes on vessels it identified as engaged in drug trafficking, reportedly destroying at least 10 ships and killing around 40 people, according to Pentagon statements.

Yesterday, B-1 strategic bombers flew a mission from Texas to the Venezuelan coast, flight-tracking data showed. The operation came just a week after similar runs by B-52 bombers. President Donald Trump denied the missions when asked by reporters, but senior administration officials confirmed them to the Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal.

"We know everything about the drug ships. I don't think we'll declare war. We'll just kill people smuggling drugs into our country," Trump said Thursday at the White House, amid growing speculation that the confrontation could soon spill into Venezuelan territory.

At a news conference last week, Trump took the unusual step of revealing that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela but declined to say whether these actions were aimed directly at Maduro.

Mounting American pressure appears to be taking its toll in Caracas. The Associated Press reported last week that members of Maduro's government had proposed a plan under which he would step down within three years and transfer power to his vice president, Delcy Rodríguez. The White House reportedly rejected the offer. Maduro and Rodríguez vehemently denied the report.

In a striking video released Thursday, Maduro was heard urging Americans to avoid what he called a "crazy war." "Yes peace, yes peace forever, peace forever. No crazy war, please!" he said in broken English during a speech to union leaders.

In August, the Trump administration doubled its reward for information leading to the capture of the authoritarian Venezuelan leader to $50 million, accusing his regime of ties to drug cartels and gangs operating in the US—charges Maduro denies.

Rising tensions across Latin America

Meanwhile, the standoff appears to be spreading across the region. On Friday evening, Washington imposed sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, accusing him of failing to stem the flow of cocaine into the US. "Since President Gustavo Petro took office, cocaine production in Colombia has soared to its highest level in decades, flooding the US and poisoning Americans," Treasury Secretary Scott Bassant said. "President Petro has allowed drug cartels to thrive and refused to halt their operations."

Petro, in turn, accused the US of murder after an American strike killed a Colombian fisherman. Trump responded by halting all aid to Colombia and imposing tariffs, calling Petro an "illegal drug leader." Bogotá recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations.

Last month, during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly in New York, Petro joined an anti-Israel protest, during which he called on US soldiers to disobey President Trump's orders. The State Department subsequently announced the cancellation of Petro's US visa.

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Trump's suggestion that his administration was evaluating Venezuelan territory strikes represented a substantial advancement beyond recent Caribbean boat attacks that killed 27 people, which Democratic lawmakers and United Nations specialists vigorously criticized as international law violations, according to The Guardian. "No to war in the Caribbean … no to regime change … no to coups d'état orchestrated by the CIA," Maduro stated during an address to a committee established after Washington deployed Caribbean naval vessels for claimed anti-narcotics operations, The Guardian reported.

The president's CIA remarks verified earlier New York Times reporting about classified directives concerning clandestine Venezuela operations, with Trump stating his administration evaluated land-based options while refusing to clarify whether the CIA possessed Maduro elimination authorization, according to The Guardian. Trump defended intervention by reiterating unsubstantiated assertions that Venezuela released prisoners, including mental health facility inmates, into America and transported substantial drug quantities by sea, claims specialists have consistently questioned, The Guardian reported.

Earlier this month administration's declaration that America entered "armed conflict" with drug cartels triggered congressional anger from both major parties, with members arguing Trump effectively committed war acts without seeking authorization, according to The Guardian. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, ranking Democratic member on Senate foreign relations committee, stated Wednesday that while supporting trafficking crackdowns, the administration exceeded boundaries: "The Trump administration's authorization of covert CIA action, conducting lethal strikes on boats and hinting at land operations in Venezuela slides the United States closer to outright conflict with no transparency, oversight or apparent guardrails," Shaheen stated, according to The Guardian. "The American people deserve to know if the administration is leading the US into another conflict, putting servicemembers at risk, or pursuing a regime-change operation."

Following another boat strike, Maduro ordered military exercises in Venezuela's largest shantytown on Wednesday and mobilized military, police, and civilian militia to defend the nation's "mountains, coasts, schools, hospitals, factories and markets," The Guardian reported. Trump characterized victims as "narcoterrorists" without evidence and claimed strikes targeted Tren de Aragua gang members, assertions the White House has not substantiated, according to The Guardian.

UN specialists stated in September that vessel strikes violated international law, with a Democratic congressman declaring attacks constituted "illegal killings" that "wouldn't stand up in a single court of law," The Guardian reported. Earlier this year, the Trump administration cited an unverified Tren de Aragua affiliation to expedite Venezuelan deportations to the notorious El Salvador prison, while Trump advocated terminating temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and accused Maduro of leading a drug cartel, charges the leader denies, with Washington doubling the capture bounty to $50 million in August, according to The Guardian.

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Machado's party, Vente Venezuela, signed a cooperation agreement with Likud in 2020, with Eli Vered Hazan, currently Israel's ambassador to Singapore, who then represented the party's foreign relations department. The document states both sides commit to "create an alliance between our two parties for cooperation on political, ideological and social issues, as well as to promote cooperation on issues related to strategy, geopolitics and security," with the goal being "to bring the people of Israel closer to the people of Venezuela while promoting the Western values to which both parties are committed: liberty, freedom and market economy."

The Norwegian Nobel Committee granted Machado the prize following her nomination last year by a coalition including then-Senator Marco Rubio, currently serving as Trump's secretary of state, with the committee recognizing Machado "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy," LiveNOW from FOX reported. Rubio previously characterized Machado as "the personification of resilience, tenacity, and patriotism," according to LiveNOW from FOX.

Tribute to Trump

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Both actions, and especially the latter, threatened to split the movement that promised to end America's "endless wars." But now it appears the president is preparing the ground for a third use of force, and this time, much closer to home.

Paper tigers

Since the beginning of last month, more and more reports have emerged about a secret directive Trump signed instructing the Pentagon, or by its new name, the Department of War, to prepare for military action against drug cartels in Latin America. Now it seems the blue arrows on US operations-room maps are pointing toward Venezuela.

In recent weeks the US Navy has concentrated warships, a nuclear submarine, cruisers, destroyers and even landing ships, a threatening hint of a readiness for an invasion that is still hard to see on the horizon. At the center of the force stands the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima with thousands of Marines on board, whose primary role is to support an amphibious operation. At the same time F-35s, drones and Osprey helicopters that are used to land special forces were deployed to Puerto Rico.

On September 2, the first use of force took place: US forces attacked a small boat accused of drug smuggling. "We blew them up," the president said of the strike that the administration claimed killed 11 drug traffickers. Two days later Venezuelan fighter jets flew low over a US ship. The Pentagon called that "an extreme provocation."

On Monday Trump announced on his Truth Social account another strike on a small vessel carrying three people. As in the previous strike he posted video showing the small boat exploding. "These most violent drug cartels pose a threat to US national security, our foreign policy and our vital interests," he wrote.

For many years Venezuela has been a failed state. About 8 million refugees, a quarter of the population, have fled the country since 2014, when President Nicolás Maduro began repressing the opposition and refused to accept the voters' verdict. Migration routes came to be littered with paper creations, made from worthless bolívar banknotes that refugees carried while fleeing a state that collapsed under Maduro's and his predecessor Hugo Chávez's "socialism."

The regime rests on a narrow core: military officers who control state companies, police and members of the colectivos - armed street gangs. Those outside that circle live in poverty or flee, while an electoral fraud in 2024 crushed what remained of the opposition and sent it into exile or underground. "This is a classic repressive state, like Russia or Iran," says Dr. Ben-Zion Telefus of Bar-Ilan University, an expert on the politics of the drug war and host of The Stray Weed podcast.

"If we are attacked, we will enter into armed conflict," Maduro threatened, calling the US deployment "the greatest threat on the continent in 100 years." Bombastic propaganda videos about "mobilizing popular militias" intended to stop the Americans mostly feature state workers and pensioners who depend on participating in Maduro's staged rallies, and in recent weeks Maduro has taken to wearing military uniforms.

The Trump administration links Maduro to drug trafficking, mainly through the gang Tren de Aragua and by branding the Caracas regime as the Cartel of the Suns, a play on the army rank insignia that resemble suns, allegedly running a drug trafficking network from within state mechanisms. That labeling was also the rationale offered for doubling the bounty on Maduro's head to $50 million.

Tren de Aragua, which Trump has designated a terrorist organization, is a gang that built its power inside the Tocorón prison in Venezuela, where authorities allowed its leaders to run the facility in exchange for maintaining order. In May 2023 the prison was dismantled in a publicized operation. "The dismantling actually increased their strength; they had to find new sources of income and began to spread through South, Central and North America," says Dr. Telefus. According to him, the gang found revenue streams based on the same network of refugees who fled Venezuela: extortion, cross-border smuggling, human trafficking, and drugs.

A perfect fit

So why is Venezuela specifically in the sights?

There are several reasons to believe Washington will soon begin striking targets on Venezuelan soil, actions that make a war with it fit the White House like a glove. "What you are seeing now is not training," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to the Iwo Jima off the coast of Puerto Rico. "This is a real mission for the vital interests of the US, to end the poisoning of the American people."

The US War on Drugs did not start with Trump, but under his presidency it takes on a meaning tied to the administration's raison d'etre: protecting the American middle class, whose livelihoods allegedly were stolen by globalist interests, whose dignity and beliefs are harmed and cancelled by woke culture and drug traffickers, with the Chinese and pharmaceutical companies supposedly conspiring to kill Trump and his loved ones for profit. Those are central enemies of MAGA, and the war on them is America First.

Conveniently for the much-maligned neoconservatives, who were pushed out of the Republican mainstream, a confrontation with the Maduro regime achieves a "classic" objective: reestablishing American dominance in the Western Hemisphere, the regional backyard, and fighting communism. It appears Marco Rubio, secretary of state and national security adviser whose influence has been growing, is leading the move. Besides being a remnant of the pre-Trump Republican Party, and the son of Cuban refugees, he sees socialist regimes in Latin America as a strategic and moral threat.

But will a war in Venezuela reduce drug trafficking? "Trump is focused on supply-side measures, which historically have proven to be the least productive," says Telefus. "This administration has no coherent policy that connects means to ends. Fentanyl is mainly illicitly manufactured in Mexico with precursors from China. Venezuela provides mostly cocaine, and even that in negligible quantities."

Iranian advisers assist Maduro

The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated Maduro's forces at roughly 123,000 soldiers, 220,000 militia members and 8,000 reservists. The Venezuelan military holds a mix of Western and non-Western weapons systems: fighter jets bought from the US in the 1980s alongside Russian aircraft and missiles.

An interesting aspect is the relationship between Maduro's regime and Iran, which goes beyond mutual moral support between two states isolated by what they call "American imperialism." It is a relationship with significant military aspects; for example in 2022 then-defense minister Benny Gantz revealed that Iran had transferred to Maduro technologies for producing Mohajer-6 drones on Venezuelan soil and the appropriate armaments.

Dani Sitrinovich, former head of the Iran branch in AMAN's research division and a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, explains that the connection between the countries is much deeper. "Venezuela is effectively Iran's primary operational hub in Latin America," he says. "Iran has economic, security and political interests in Venezuela. All the assistance it provides to the Venezuelans, from missile boats to establishing a drone production facility, serves those interests."

According to Sitrinovich, "Iran uses that presence as a certain threat for a theoretical day of reckoning when it would need access to a point within reach of the continental US. It very much wants to keep that influence. There are Iranian advisers who could assist the Maduro regime and its military."

The fall of Maduro, a scenario that currently seems distant, could lead to improved relations between Venezuela, the US and Israel, and severely damage Iran's foothold in Latin America.

The American threat has also produced a series of high-level discussions between the leaders of the last country the US attacked and the one that appears next in line. Last week Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, spoke with Maduro.

Hopes that the punitive blows the Iranian regime sustained would lead to its downfall have so far faded, but it may be that Venezuela will be an easier target for a quick American victory, even without an ambitious US invasion.

"You do not have to invade Venezuela to depose Maduro," explains Dr. Telefus. "The best way is to change the calculations of senior Venezuelan officers, who hold the state." According to Telefus, if enough generals are convinced that Maduro's days are numbered and receive guarantees for their security and status, they may agree "to get rid of Maduro" and craft a path to regime change.

"The Trump administration is very focused on optics. It can say 'look, I'm attacking those who poison the US. You don't have to occupy the country, just remove the person," Telefus concludes. If we choose an image from the president's world, Venezuela offers a very attractive value for money - and that is what makes it, in all likelihood, the administration's current target.

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The Trump administration on Saturday activated a rarely invoked emergency statute from 1798 to accelerate deportations of migrants linked to Venezuela's "Tren de Aragua"  (TdA) gang – a legal maneuver used only three times previously in US history.

The "Alien Enemies Act," part of the four Alien and Sedition Acts passed during John Adams' presidency, provides presidents with extraordinary powers to remove foreign nationals. Historically, the law was intended specifically for wartime scenarios where the US faces military conflict with another nation or experiences an invasion. This historical context has prompted legal scholars to question whether its current application will withstand judicial scrutiny.

In Saturday's presidential proclamation, the White House justified the action by citing Tren de Aragua's designation as a foreign terrorist organization. The administration claimed many gang members engage "in mass illegal migration to the United States to further its objectives of harming United States citizens," language seemingly crafted to align with the law's original intent. The order calls for immediate apprehension, detention and removal of individuals subject to the proclamation.

Legal challenges emerge quickly

The Brennan Center for Justice noted that the Alien Enemies Act has only been implemented three times throughout American history, exclusively during declared wars. The law was employed during both World Wars to facilitate the detention and deportation of immigrants from enemy nations including Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Japan. Legal scholars point out that the statute contributed to the framework that enabled the widely condemned Japanese internment program during World War II, according to analysis from the non-partisan Institute for Law and Policy.

Hours before the administration formally invoked the act, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking some deportations under the emergency law. While this judicial intervention currently protects only those individuals who filed Saturday's lawsuit, the court scheduled an evening hearing to consider broadening the order's scope.

This preliminary legal challenge originated from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Democracy Forward, who preemptively filed their motion anticipating insufficient time to intervene once the presidential proclamation took effect.

In court documents, the ACLU contended that gang activity, regardless of its severity, "does not meet the accepted definitions" of invasion or warfare as constitutionally required under the statute. The Justice Department wasted no time filing an appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking to overturn the temporary restraining order.

El Salvador agreement revealed

Simultaneously, the Associated Press revealed that the US has negotiated a $6 million payment to El Salvador to incarcerate 300 deported members of Venezuela's TdA gang, citing an internal diplomatic memo obtained by the news organization.

"The Republic of El Salvador confirms it will house these individuals for one (1) year, pending the United States' decision on their long term disposition," the internal Foreign Ministry document stated. This agreement follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to El Salvador last month, during which he indicated the Central American nation had proposed detaining "dangerous criminals" expelled from American territory.

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has gained international attention for his aggressive anti-gang initiatives, including mass arrests, expedited trials, and the construction of a massive "mega-prison" facility designed to hold up to 40,000 inmates. While Bukele's approach has reduced gang violence, human rights organizations have documented serious concerns about extrajudicial detentions and allegations of torture within El Salvador's expanding prison system.

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In an escalating pattern of detentions that has alarmed international observers, Venezuelan authorities have taken more than 50 foreign passport holders into custody since late July 2023, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The detentions come as President Nicolás Maduro seeks to strengthen his bargaining position with foreign governments, including the incoming Trump administration.

The strategy appears to build on Maduro's previous success in securing the release of key allies through prisoner exchanges with the Biden administration. These exchanges included the freedom of Alex Saab, a prominent regime financier, and two of Maduro's nephews, the Journal reported.

"The idea of capturing foreigners is to use them later in an effort to force their home countries to accept conditions in negotiations or to trade them," Gonzalo Himiob, a human-rights lawyer and director of Penal Forum, told the WSJ. His organization represents political prisoners in Venezuela.

The surge in detentions has coincided with a broader crackdown following Venezuela's July 28 vote, during which more than 2,000 Venezuelans were also taken into custody. Both the Biden administration and UN officials monitoring forced detentions have struggled to obtain information about the prisoners from Venezuelan authorities, according to individuals familiar with the situation.

A recent case highlighting this trend involves Nahuel Gallo, a 33-year-old Argentine police corporal, who was arrested on December 8 while traveling to spend holidays with his family. The detention has sparked outrage from Argentine President Javier Milei's administration, which characterizes it as a kidnapping.

"This is no longer just an anti-gringo thing," Eric Farnsworth, a former US diplomat at the Council of the Americas policy group in Washington told the publication. "Now Venezuela's message to neighbors is, 'If you upset us, your citizens are also at risk.'"

The Journal found that many detentions follow a similar pattern: foreign men entering Venezuela through the Colombian border to meet romantic partners are arrested and face accusations of terrorism or espionage. These charges support the regime's claims of US-backed coup plots, according to Himiob. 

Penal Forum has confirmed 19 foreigners in detention, including four Americans, along with citizens from Ecuador, Colombia, Spain, Ukraine, and Uruguay. Additionally, 30 Venezuelans with dual citizenship, primarily from Spain or Italy, are being held.

By September, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced the arrests of at least seven Americans, claiming they were involved in a plot to overthrow Maduro. The regime presented these accusations during a series of news conferences led by Cabello, who many diplomats and scholars consider the regime's top enforcer.

The US State Department declined to specify how many Americans are currently detained, citing security concerns. A department spokeswoman noted that Venezuela neither notifies US officials of detentions nor grants them access to detained citizens. Since closing its embassy in Caracas in March 2019, the US has warned citizens against traveling to Venezuela due to the high risk of wrongful detentions.

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