The US military on Monday conducted a new airstrike on alleged drug smugglers from Venezuela, killing three people, President Donald Trump announced on social media. He also shared a video online that appeared to show a small vessel exploding and catching fire.It was the second strike in recent weeks on a Venezuelan boat. A previous US operation on Sept. 2 left 11 people dead. Trump later told reporters that a third boat had also been “knocked off” as part of his administration’s expanding campaign against Latin American drug traffickers, though he offered no evidence. US military officials did not immediately respond to questions about the claim.Trump has framed the actions as part of a broader fight against “violent drug cartels” that threaten American security. But he has provided no proof that the vessels were carrying narcotics.Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has condemned the attacks, calling them acts of aggression. Washington insists they are defensive operations.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro points at a map of the Americas during a press conference in Caracas, Venezuela, Sept 15, 2025.Jesus Vargas/APInside Venezuela, reactions to the escalating tensions are mixed. Many citizens say they are too consumed with everyday survival to focus on geopolitics.“With the economy the way it is, we don’t even have time to think about what might happen,” said Manuela M., an entrepreneur in Caracas. Average household income is about $200 a month, roughly half of what is needed to feed a family of four. Nearly a third of Venezuela’s population has left the country in the past decade, seeking relief from one of the worst economic collapses in modern history.Others say the prospect of conflict has created uncertainty and fear. “There’s a lot of confusion,” said Antonio Andrade, a merchant in the capital. He and others have described a flood of misinformation online, especially since the US Navy deployed warships and thousands of troops to the southern Caribbean last month. Andrade said his relatives in Venezuela send him daily messages claiming the fighting has already begun. “People live in constant fear,” he said.Maduro, who is widely accused of stealing last year’s presidential election, has tightened repression and maintains his hold on the military. He has urged Venezuelans to join civilian militias to defend against US aggression. Meanwhile, public workers report they have been pressured to enlist.Members of the government-organized militias receive military training at Fort Tiuna in Caracas, Venezuela, Sept. 13, 2025.Jesus Vargas/APDespite the heated rhetoric, most analysts say a US invasion is unlikely. “The militia is really kind of a sideshow,” said David Smilde, an expert on Venezuelan politics at Tulane University. “This whole cartel thing is also a sideshow. Donald Trump hates boots on the ground. He doesn’t like regime change initiatives that involve long occupations.” Smilde says it’s “an effort to kind of try to scare Nicolas Maduro and sort of satisfy the pressures he gets from legislators from South Florida.”That skepticism is shared by some Venezuelans. “This is political theater,” said Wilman Márquez, a musician from Caracas. “Both the US and the Venezuelan people are being misled. If Washington really wanted to topple Maduro, it would have happened already.”The Trump administration insists the strikes are about national security, not politics. US officials accuse Maduro of running a drug empire known as the Cartel of the Suns and have offered a $50 million reward for his capture.“We’re not going to have a cartel masquerading as a government operating in our own hemisphere,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Fox News. “He’s indicted, he’s a fugitive of American justice.”Some legal experts argue the strikes are unlawful. Under US law, designating gangs and cartels as terrorist organizations allows for sanctions that include freezing assets, but not the use of military force.Police officers stand guard after being mobilized in Valencia, Venezuela, Sept 11, 2025.Jacinto Oliveros/APStill, others inside Venezuela say international pressure is needed. “Help from abroad is necessary,” said Arturo González, an engineer in Bolívar state. “The regime has entrenched itself in every institution of the country, and we simply can’t recover our democracy alone.”Leonardo Vivas, a professor of Latin American politics, agreed that elections alone will not dislodge Maduro. “It is not possible to get rid of him through a democratic election,” he said. “And in this case the only ally that has shown the muscle and the will has been the US.”In a recent round of interviews in the streets of Caracas, few Venezuelans favored escalation. “The presidents need to talk and negotiate,” said the merchant Antonio Andrade. “We don’t want any violence here.”A recent national poll suggests that most Venezuelans share that view. Rather than expecting foreign powers to remove Maduro, respondents said they put their faith in political negotiations — or in divine intervention.Journalist Isabel Guerrero contributed to this report from Caracas, Venezuela.