English: This cartoon depicts a representation of Rudyard Kipling's famous poem The White Man's Burden. Originally published in February, 1899 the poem's philosophy quickly developed as the United States response to annexation of the Philippines. The United States used the "white man's burden" as an argument for imperial control of the Philippines and Cuba on the basis of moral necessity. It was now the United States' moral duty to develop and modernize the conquest lands in order to help carry the foreign barbarians to civilization.

Русский: «Бремя белого человека» — Джон Булль и Дядя Сэм, тащат цветные народы к Цивилизации. Карикатура Виктора Гиллама, журнал Judge 1 апреля 1899.

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After its defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898, Spain ceded its longstanding colony of the Philippines to the United States in the Treaty of Paris. On February 4, 1899, just two days before the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty, fighting broke out between American forces and Filipino nationalists led by Emilio Aguinaldo who sought independence rather than a change in colonial rulers. The ensuing Philippine-American War lasted three years and resulted in the death of over 4,200 American and over 20,000 Filipino combatants. As many as 200,000 Filipino civilians died from violence, famine, and disease.

The decision by U.S. policymakers to annex the Philippines was not without domestic controversy. Americans who advocated annexation evinced a variety of motivations: desire for commercial opportunities in Asia, concern that the Filipinos were incapable of self-rule, and fear that if the United States did not take control of the islands, another power (such as Germany or Japan) might do so. Meanwhile, American opposition to U.S. colonial rule of the Philippines came in many forms, ranging from those who thought it morally wrong for the United States to be engaged in colonialism, to those who feared that annexation might eventually permit the non-white Filipinos to have a role in American national government. Others were wholly unconcerned about the moral or racial implications of imperialism and sought only to oppose the policies of President William McKinley’s administration.

After the Spanish-American War, while the American public and politicians debated the annexation question, Filipino revolutionaries under Aguinaldo seized control of most of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and proclaimed the establishment of the independent Philippine Republic. When it became clear that U.S. forces were intent on imposing American colonial control over the islands, the early clashes between the two sides in 1899 swelled into an all-out war. Americans tended to refer to the ensuing conflict as an “insurrection” rather than acknowledge the Filipinos’ contention that they were fighting to ward off a foreign invader.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/war

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Caracas, October 15, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Donald Trump administration has reportedly authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to carry out lethal covert operations in Venezuela as part of escalating regime-change efforts against Caracas. The revelation came as the US military struck another boat in the Caribbean, bringing the total to 27 people killed.

Several US officials confirmed to the New York Times a new presidential finding that would enable the CIA to take lethal covert action against the Maduro government and conduct other unspecified operations in the Caribbean region. 

President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that he had approved CIA covert operations in Venezuela, without giving any details. Trump justified the measure to reporters by alleging that the Maduro government had sent “criminals and people from asylums” to the US through the southern border, along with narcotics trafficked via Caribbean routes. He reiterated that land strikes would follow.

Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Ministry reacted by denouncing Trump’s “bellicose and extravagant” statements and his admission of CIA-led destabilization plans.

Last week, Venezuela denounced in an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that regime-change efforts were underway, including potential US military attacks in the near future, using “falsehoods” that Caracas was involved in drug trafficking.

The ramped-up military threats followed Washington’s suspension of all diplomatic contact with Caracas on October 2, alongside reports that Trump has grown frustrated with Maduro’s refusal to give up power and Venezuela’s rejection of “narcoterrorism” allegations as unfounded and politically motivated.

The Maduro government recently warned that it had prevented a “false flag operation” allegedly organized by local far-right groups to plant explosives at the US embassy with the goal of orchestrating a conflict with Washington. The warning was reportedly dismissed by US authorities, who stated the embassy building has been empty since 2019 when Caracas broke diplomatic ties. 

Washington has also dismissed President Maduro’s calls for dialogue and de-escalation. Venezuelan armed forces have launched defense exercises and are deployed across the country to protect borders, airports, ports, and critical infrastructure and institutions.

Over the years, declassified documents have confirmed the CIA’s hand in overthrowing leftist governments in South America, such as Salvador Allende’s Chile in 1973 and Jacobo Árbenz’s Guatemala in 1954, while repeatedly trying to assassinate Cuba’s Fidel Castro.

In Venezuela, the CIA was involved in cocaine smuggling operations in the 1980s and 1990s in collaboration with assets within the Venezuelan military. Caracas has likewise accused the agency of being behind several plots to overthrow or assassinate former President Hugo Chávez (1999-2012), including the 2002 short-lived US-backed coup.

Early last year, Venezuelan authorities arrested dozens of people tied to an alleged far-right scheme to assassinate President Maduro, accusing the CIA and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of backing it. A previous assassination attempt failed in 2018. 

CIA director John Ratcliffe is said to be working alongside fellow regime-change advocates, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House staffer Stephen Miller, in shaping the new aggressive strategy against the Venezuelan government. This approach involves expanding the US military presence in the Caribbean and potentially hitting targets inside Venezuela in the next phase of Washington’s so-called counter-narcotics mission.

Since mid-August, the White House has stationed at least eight warships, aircraft, and an estimated 10,000 troops in the Caribbean in a purported mission against drug smuggling. On Wednesday, two US B-52 bombers were spotted by open-source aircraft tracking websites maneuvering inside Venezuelan airspace.

The military deployment followed a US $50 million bounty for President Maduro’s capture over claims of links to the so-called “Cartel de los Soles” and “Tren de Aragua” gang, both designated terrorist organizations by the US early this year.

Washington has not provided any court-tested evidence of its allegations. Reports by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the DEA have found that Venezuela is not a major drug-producing or drug-shipping country. Most US-bound narcotics originate in Colombia, Perú, and Bolivia and reach the US via Pacific routes and Central America.

Since September, the US Southern Command has conducted strikes against at least five boats in the Caribbean near Venezuelan coasts, killing 27 people, claiming that they were carrying drugs to the US and belonged to designated terrorist organizations. The last strike was announcedTuesday by Trump via Truth Social, in which six crewmen were killed.

Legal and human rights experts, as well as Democratic representatives, have warned that these actions constitute extrajudicial killings and that the US must carry out formal interception and arrest procedures guaranteeing due process.

In response, the Trump administration produced a classified legal opinion that justifies lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of alleged cartels and drug traffickers. The White House has sought to further justify its actions by notifying Congress that the United States is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with designated foreign terrorist organizations. The US Senate recently rejected a resolution that sought to limit Trump’s authority to conduct military strikes in the Caribbean.

Caracas has said that the strikes have killed civilians, but has been unable to identify the victims. However, Pentagon sources have reportedly revealed that at least one strike in the Caribbean targeted a boat that departed from Colombia. 

Colombian President Gustavo Petro had previously claimed that the three men killed in the September 19 strike were Colombian nationals and accused the US of manufacturing a war.

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Chief Alvin Holsey visited Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada on October 14-15 to “further strengthen security cooperation,” including fighting transnational organized crime and illicit trafficking, according to an official communiqué.

On Tuesday, Holsey met with Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, and the Caribbean nation’s Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Telbert Benjamin, to discuss Caribbean security and deepening the bilateral defense partnership. Browne declared that his country would not host US military assets or units on its territory.

Holsey wrapped up his Caribbean visit Wednesday after meeting with Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) Acting Commissioner Randy Connaught to discuss security-related efforts. 

Grenadian authorities have yet to respond to a recent request by the US military for the temporary installation of radar equipment and associated technical personnel at the Maurice Bishop International Airport. Local and regional organizations have firmly come out against US military actions in the Caribbean.

Edited by José Luis Granados Ceja in Mexico City, Mexico.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/trump-approves-lethal-covert-cia-operations-in-venezuela-as-another-strike-in-the-caribbean-kills-six/

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         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.