US Strikes Ordered by President Trump Cripple Venezuelan Smuggling Hub, Local Economy Collapses as Regime Surveillance Tightens
A major port city on Venezuela’s northeastern coast has plunged into economic ruin after a series of precise U.S. military strikes — authorized by current President Donald J. Trump — wiped out the region’s illicit maritime trade and sent shockwaves through the country’s narcotics network.
Güiria, once a thriving launch point for smuggling vessels transporting drugs, migrants, and contraband across the Caribbean, has seen its economy screech to a halt following targeted bombings of suspected narcotrafficking boats, according to a Friday report from Reuters. Much of the city’s cash flow depended on the illegal maritime activity that the socialist regime in Caracas long enabled.
With the boats gone, so is the money.
“There was only movement in stores recently because of government bonus payments; otherwise, there’s no money circulating,” one local merchant told Reuters.
“No boats of any kind are leaving… not migrants, not people buying goods there to sell here, and certainly not those taking Venezuelan products to sell there, which was another way to make money. Everything is practically dead,” the merchant added.
Regime Retaliation and Intimidation
In the wake of the U.S. operation, families of several men believed to have been killed in the strikes say they were immediately approached by agents of Venezuela’s socialist security apparatus — the same government widely condemned as illegitimate by the United States and much of the democratic world. According to Reuters, police and intelligence officers raided homes, issued warnings against speaking publicly, and provided no information about the deaths or the missing bodies. For safety, relatives spoke anonymously.
Beginning in mid-September, the Maduro regime has dramatically expanded military and intelligence presence in Güiria, transforming the already impoverished port city into a surveillance zone patrolled by the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN). Reuters reports that locals describe persistent patrols, checkpoints, raids, and intimidation.
One former resident told Reuters that the regime even established a DGCIM “command center” inside a state-owned hotel in a nearby tourist area — a move that instantly suppressed ordinary movement and business activity.
“The people in town know there are individuals who are not part of the community, not from there. People walking around like civilians, but they belong to government intelligence,” the former resident said, according to Reuters. “There’s so much secrecy — no one talks about it because they don’t know if someone is listening.”
DGCIM is currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court and has been sanctioned by the United States for widespread abuses, including extrajudicial killings and torture. SEBIN has targeted journalists, political opponents, and dissidents for years.
Trump’s Strategy: Hit the Cartels, Squeeze the Dictator
The collapse of Güiria is part of a broader military campaign in the Caribbean that has positioned roughly 10 percent of total U.S. naval resources around Venezuela. American forces have carried out 21 confirmed strikes on suspected cartel vessels since Sept. 2 — actions that intelligence officials say have eliminated more than 80 traffickers connected to the narcotics pipeline feeding cartels across the hemisphere.
President Donald Trump also approved covert CIA operations in Venezuela in mid-October, adding pressure on dictator Nicolás Maduro and his network. In mid-November, the U.S. formally designated the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles — allegedly led by Maduro himself — as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
During remarks to U.S. service members on Thursday, President Trump strongly hinted that operations may soon expand further inland, not just at sea.