Representatives from across Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean gathered on November 9, 2025, in the Colombian coastal city of Santa Marta for a high-stakes summit aimed at strengthening regional ties. But as delegates arrived, the atmosphere was thick with anxiety. A massive U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and Venezuela’s unprecedented mobilization of nearly 200,000 troops had transformed the region into a powder keg, raising fears that the Western Hemisphere was teetering on the brink of its most dangerous confrontation in years.
Colombian officials had hoped the summit—bringing together the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the European Union—would focus on a forward-looking agenda: renewable energy, food security, financial cooperation, and technological innovation. Yet, as reported by the Associated Press, the deadly U.S. strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which have killed more than 60 people since September, quickly overshadowed the planned discussions. Colombian President Gustavo Petro, one of the sharpest critics of the operation, did not mince words. In his opening address, Petro asked, “What are we doing with this meeting in today’s world amidst missiles?” He called the deaths “extrajudicial executions,” identifying at least one Colombian among the victims and another among the few survivors. His hope, he said, was for the summit “to be a beacon of light amidst the barbarity.”
But the sense of urgency was not limited to Colombia. Just two days later, on November 11, Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced the mobilization of nearly 200,000 troops, militia members, and civilian defense units. As Newsweek detailed, this was no mere show of force. The deployment included ground troops, air squadrons, naval vessels, riverine patrols, and missile systems—supported by police and civilian militias. López, speaking on state television, declared, “The aggression will be responded to with national unity. We are ready here; we don’t want war.”
Venezuelan officials interpreted the arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford—currently the world’s largest aircraft carrier—off their coast as an existential threat. President Nicolás Maduro’s government openly accused Washington of plotting an invasion to remove him from power, a fear that has only grown since his disputed 2024 reelection and deepening international isolation. “This isn’t abstract paranoia playing out on state television,” Newsweek observed. “The mobilization involves real hardware, actual troop movements and a nationwide coordination between military branches, police forces and civilian militias across key regions.”
The Pentagon, however, painted a different picture. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted that the carrier strike group’s presence was part of ongoing operations “to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and protect the homeland.” He wrote on X, “As we’ve said before, vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will continue until their poisoning of the American people stops.” Since early September, U.S. forces have conducted at least 19 airstrikes targeting alleged trafficking vessels, reportedly killing around 75 people, according to multiple outlets. President Donald Trump, while hinting that “land strikes are going to be next,” stopped short of specifying targets or timelines, but did not rule out further escalation.
Venezuela’s National Assembly, meanwhile, scrambled to match military action with legal infrastructure. Lawmakers passed legislation designed to strengthen coordination between civilians and the armed forces in times of crisis, establishing command structures meant to function during actual conflict. Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez explained that the new law introduces “a new way of dealing with the deployment, compliance with orders, the movement of troops and, above all, the conjunction between the people and the armed forces.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who surprised many by attending the summit despite Brazil hosting the COP30 climate conference, emphasized the urgent need for regional solidarity. According to AP, Lula urged Latin American nations to help prevent conflict in Venezuela and revealed that he had encouraged President Trump during their meeting in Malaysia to follow the example of former President George W. Bush, who sought to pacify Venezuela after the 2002 coup attempt against Hugo Chávez. “I told Trump that Latin America is a region of peace,” Lula said.
Yet the regional landscape is anything but tranquil. The U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) oversees operations across 31 nations and 12 territories, stretching from Mexico’s southern border through Central and South America into the Caribbean. The U.S. has expanded training operations and troop deployments in Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago, creating what Venezuelan officials describe as a network of encirclement. This is, as Newsweek put it, “Washington’s largest Caribbean military presence in decades.”
Despite the high-level ambitions of the Santa Marta summit, its relevance was called into question by the absence of several key leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Colombian officials attributed these absences to scheduling conflicts with a United Nations climate summit, but the shadow cast by the U.S.-Venezuela standoff was hard to ignore. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and President Lula da Silva were among the few prominent leaders present, underscoring the gravity of the situation and the need for dialogue.
Some leaders at the summit highlighted recent progress in trade, digital connectivity, the green transition, social development, and artificial intelligence, seeking to shift the narrative away from confrontation. European Council President António Costa, for example, stated, “We choose dialogue, not division; we choose cooperation, not confrontation; we choose partnership, not isolation. And in this multipolar world of ours, what is needed is a multilateral response.” Yet, as Alexander Main of the Center for Economic and Policy Research noted, the summit’s timing—following the postponement of the Summit of the Americas—may actually make it easier for governments to address the central issue of military deployment, since the United States is not a formal party to the meeting.
For now, both Washington and Caracas insist their actions are defensive. Venezuelan officials say they do not want war but are prepared to respond to any aggression with national unity. American officials maintain their focus is on drug interdiction and homeland protection. But with nearly 200,000 Venezuelan personnel on alert and American carrier strike groups operating nearby, the margin for error is razor-thin. Even a minor incident—a close encounter between patrol vessels or an airspace incursion—could trigger a rapid and catastrophic escalation.
As the summit in Santa Marta closes and the world watches the Caribbean with bated breath, the region’s leaders face a stark choice: continue down the path of confrontation, or seize the opportunity for dialogue before the next miscalculation becomes a tragedy that no one can undo.
