Why The Trump Administration Is Blowing Up Venezuelan Boats

1A

NPR

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4.4 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

Last month, the Trump administration started blowing up boats off the coast of Venezuela, calling it part of an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. The White House’s so-called “war on cartels” is increasingly centered on Venezuela, not Mexico or Haiti, where most of these organizations actually operate.

The president is linking these cartels to the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The South American strong man has indicated he’s ready to declare a state of emergency in his country if things progress much further.

So, are these actions about drugs, or are they really about regime change?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The federal government has shut down.
0:03.0	What are lawmakers arguing about?
0:04.9	And what does it mean for you?
0:06.8	The NPR Politics Podcast is here to make sense of it all,
0:09.7	giving you updates and news every day to keep you informed.
0:13.2	The NPR Politics Podcast.
0:15.1	Listen every day.
0:30.4	Hey, this is Jen. Just a quick heads up before we start the show. The news is rapidly developing,
0:35.3	and things may have changed by the time you hear this episode. For the very latest news,
0:40.3	tune in to your public radio station and follow updates at npr.org.
0:46.5	There's a shift in U.S. foreign policy that's drawing attention and some alarm across Latin America.
0:52.2	The Trump administration's so-called war on cartels is increasingly centered on Venezuela,
0:55.3	not places where most illegal drugs actually originate,
0:56.6	like Mexico or Colombia.
0:59.0	So what's really driving this?
1:02.2	Could this be a push for regime change in the South American country?
1:06.9	And what does it mean for the people living under Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro's government?
1:09.9	I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast.
1:11.7	We'll be back with more in just a moment.
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	...

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