A regional alliance has spoken out against Donald Trump’s dirty war in the Caribbean. And, as the legal basis of the mission is being challenged, the US admiral overseeing the region has mysteriously stepped down. The Trump administration claims their operations in the region are about ‘narco-terrorism’. Critics insist that’s a lie. Instead, they say the whole operation is to pressure the Venezuelan government for oil – or remove the present leadership entirely.

The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) has spoken out against Trump’s actions. CELAC is a regional 33-nation alliance “for dialogue and political agreement”. CELAC said Latin America and the Caribbean must remain a “zone of peace”:

ANNOUNCING 🌎 A new hemispheric coalition is forming to defend the CELAC “Zone of Peace” from U.S. military aggression in Venezuela, bringing together parliamentarians and political leaders from across Latin America & the Caribbean.

Read their statement now ⏬ pic.twitter.com/qsFZ3LVLk2

— Progressive International (@ProgIntl) October 23, 2025

They said Trump’s pretext was familiar: using a war on drugs narrative to advance imperialist interests.

Top lawyers context legal basis

In a 23 October report published by US NGO Just Security, two lawyers who’ve work with the US military said the war was a dangerous expansion of executive power:

For the first time in U.S. history, lethal military force has been authorized solely to target drug traffickers—a move that marks an extraordinary assertion of expanded presidential power.

They said details of how the US Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) were justifying the attacks remained unclear. This, they argued, was not in line with other recent US military actions:

This lack of transparency is a serious problem. There is precedent for the executive branch to be forthcoming with its legal rationale, including for military activity.

They said the rationales for military action in Syria and Libya had been released relatively quickly:

The OLC memo justifying the Caribbean strikes should be released without delay.

High profile ‘resignation’

These legal issues may have seen the US Navy admiral in command of the region step down or be pushed out. On 23 October, The Intercept announced Admiral Alvin Holsey had left his post. Holsey was commander of Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). He had another two years left in his post. Instead, the publication reported that:

Holsey has not commented publicly on the reasons for his premature departure.

This has led to speculation by officials at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill that he may have questioned the legality or ethics of Trump’s attacks in the waters near Venezuela…

Strikes on alleged drug boats by the US have killed 32 people in the Caribbean. A further five have died in the Pacific as the US opened up a new front in the war.

In a 23 October press conference US defence secretary Pete Hegseth again drew parallels between fighting the drug cartels and fighting Al Qaeda:

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says the US will treat transnational drug organizations like Al Qaeda and ISIS, vowing to map, hunt and strike their maritime networks. pic.twitter.com/LgCu9v2lvk

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) October 24, 2025

Hegseth made similar claims earlier in the week. Invoking the War on Terror speaks to the power of the narratives generated to carry it out. As journalist Spencer Ackerman pointed out this week: