On October 6, 2025, tensions between Venezuela and the United States reached a new high as Venezuelan officials announced they had uncovered an alleged plot to attack the shuttered U.S. Embassy in Caracas. According to multiple statements by Jorge Rodríguez, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly and the government’s lead negotiator with the United States, extremist sectors of the local Venezuelan right were plotting a so-called "false flag operation"—an attack designed to appear as if it were carried out by supporters of President Nicolás Maduro, but actually orchestrated by his opponents.
“Through a false-flag operation prepared by extremist sectors of the local right, there are attempts to plant lethal explosives at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas,” Rodríguez said in a message posted to his official Telegram and Instagram accounts, as reported by Reuters and Latin Times. He emphasized that the Maduro government had warned Washington through three separate channels of the threat, and had also alerted a European embassy to communicate the gravity of the situation to U.S. diplomatic personnel. The specific European embassy was not named.
The U.S. Embassy in Caracas has been closed to the public since March 2019, when then-President Donald Trump’s administration broke diplomatic ties with the Maduro government and recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate president—a move that triggered the expulsion of U.S. diplomats and a rupture in bilateral relations. However, the embassy complex remains a significant presence in the capital, with a staff of about 150 locals responsible for security and maintenance, as noted in a September 2025 report by the U.S. State Department’s Office of Inspector General. The annual cost for upkeep of the embassy and other diplomatic properties in Caracas reportedly exceeds $6 million.
Despite the embassy’s closure, the Maduro government has continued to provide security for the site. Rodríguez stated, “At the same time, we have reinforced security measures at that diplomatic site, which our government respects and protects.” The embassy compound, perched atop a hill in southeastern Caracas, is regularly patrolled by Venezuelan police, according to AP News. The Venezuelan government has repeatedly stressed its commitment to safeguarding diplomatic missions, even as relations with Washington have deteriorated.
The alleged plot comes at a time of heightened military and political friction between the two countries. Over the past several months, the United States has ramped up its military presence in the Caribbean, deploying more than 4,000 troops and conducting multiple naval operations targeting vessels suspected of drug trafficking. President Donald Trump, now in his second term, has taken an especially hard line against the Maduro regime, accusing it of running the notorious Cartel of the Suns and being directly involved in large-scale narcotics smuggling.
Trump has not been shy about his administration’s stance. In early August 2025, he doubled the reward for Maduro’s capture to $50 million, branding him one of the world’s major drug traffickers. As Latin Times reported, the U.S. president recently praised the success of naval operations in the Caribbean, claiming that several boats allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela had been destroyed. “We did another one last night,” Trump boasted during the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy. “We can’t find any more. Not even fishing boats want to go out.”
Indeed, U.S. forces have carried out at least four strikes on vessels in international waters since the arrival of American warships in the region. On October 3, 2025, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the fourth such strike, which killed four people identified as "narco-terrorists." Hegseth asserted that U.S. intelligence had confirmed “without a doubt” that the vessel was trafficking narcotics and operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route. However, he did not share the underlying intelligence, and the strikes have raised legal and ethical questions about the military’s use of lethal force in what has traditionally been the domain of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Trump has gone further, informing Congress that the United States is now engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, declaring some as terrorist organizations and their members as “unlawful combatants.” He has also publicly suggested that U.S. military operations could extend onto Venezuelan soil, a move that would mark a sharp escalation in the ongoing standoff.
The Maduro administration has pushed back hard against these developments, denouncing the U.S. military deployment as a threat to Venezuelan sovereignty and a pretext for regime change. “Venezuela has denounced what it calls a U.S. threat over the deployment of warships in the Caribbean, which Washington says is aimed at combating Latin American drug cartels,” AP News reported. Maduro himself has accused the United States of fabricating the drug trafficking narrative as a means to force him from office.
Amid these rising tensions, Maduro announced that he had sent a letter to Pope Leo XIV, asking for “support to consolidate peace” in Venezuela. He also ordered new military exercises aimed at “refining all territorial defense mechanisms,” according to Latin Times. The Maduro regime has framed the alleged plot against the U.S. Embassy as part of a broader campaign to destabilize the country and justify further U.S. intervention.
While the White House and State Department have not immediately responded to requests for comment on the alleged plot, the episode underscores the precarious state of U.S.-Venezuelan relations. The embassy, though closed, remains a highly symbolic and strategic asset, both for the United States and for the Venezuelan government. Its security—and the narratives surrounding it—have become a focal point in a much larger struggle over the future of Venezuela and the balance of power in the region.
As the situation continues to unfold, both governments appear to be digging in their heels. The United States insists its military operations are necessary to combat the threat of drug cartels, while Venezuela views these actions as an existential threat and a violation of its sovereignty. The discovery—or at least the announcement—of a plot to attack the U.S. Embassy only adds fuel to a fire that has been smoldering for years.
For now, the embassy compound remains intact, its gates closed but its presence unmistakable in the heart of Caracas. With both sides wary and watchful, the city waits—uncertain of what the next move will be, but knowing that whatever happens, the world will be watching.
