Venezuelan Defense Minister Accuses Trump Admin of Using Vietnam-Era Tactics to Justify Intervention

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López accused the United States on Tuesday of orchestrating a campaign to create "false positives" as a pretext for military action against Venezuela.

In an official statement shared on social media, López warned that Washington and allied "far-right sectors" were spreading false information on social media about the alleged presence of a U.S. helicopter near Venezuelan island territories in order to provoke an incident.

"These reports are part of psychological operations and cognitive warfare designed to fabricate a scenario that would justify escalating aggression against Venezuela," López said. He compared the situation to the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident, which the U.S. used to justify its military involvement in Vietnam.

The statement alleged that U.S. forces could intentionally damage their own aircraft to "manufacture an incident," creating a pretext for broader intervention. López directly accused U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Mauricio Claver-Carone of coordinating these strategies and called for an immediate end to what he described as "bellicose actions:"

"We categorically reject these actions of cognitive warfare. We remain pacifist but hold an unshakable determination to defend our territorial integrity with firmness and serenity. Venezuela is not a threat, we are hope. Venezuela has defenders."

The accusations come amid escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas following a series of U.S. military operations in the Caribbean. Earlier this month, U.S. forces destroyed a vessel in the southern Caribbean, killing 11 people.

Washington described the target as a drug-smuggling boat, while Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called it "an act of murder" and accused the U.S. of using counternarcotics operations as "an excuse to justify aggression."

On Sunday, López announced the deployment of 25,000 troops, naval assets, and drones to secure border regions and major river routes used by traffickers. The U.S., meanwhile, has expanded its naval presence and deployed 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico as part of what it describes as a campaign to dismantle drug networks allegedly operating under the protection of Maduro's government—charges Venezuela has repeatedly denied.

López concluded the statement by saying the Bolivarian National Armed Forces remain "on maximum alert" and would act "in perfect civilian-military unity to defend the sovereignty and independence" of Venezuela.