President Donald Trump declared drug cartels and the Aragua train as foreign terrorist organizations during his address at the UN General Assembly this afternoon, September 23rd, 2025. Trump stated that maritime traffic from Venezuela has nearly ceased due to U.S. efforts against drug trafficking, asserting "There are no ships that dare to cross our waters with drugs." The President justified this strategy by citing figures of 300,000 drugs seized in one year, with the White House claiming each sunk boat equates to 25,000 saved lives. Trump issued a direct warning to traffickers linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, stating, "We will disappear. We will destroy them with the supreme power of the United States." He explicitly linked Maduro to terrorist and drug trafficking networks, characterizing Venezuela as a "criminal state." The President framed the initiative not merely as a security measure but as a "war against an enemy of humanity," making military escalation an official policy rather than a threat. These declarations represent a hardening of the U.S. stance against the Maduro administration and its alleged ties to illicit activities. The specific mention of the Aragua train, a known criminal syndicate operating in Venezuela, signals a broadened scope of U.S. counter-narcotics operations.
