Psychological warfare: US considering bombing Caracas with leaflets offering a million-dollar reward for Maduro on his birthday

President Donald Trump's administration analyzed the possibility of executing a psychological warfare operation against Nicolás Maduro that would consist of dropping thousands of leaflets from U.S. military aircraft on Caracas.

According to sources privy to internal discussions, the action does not yet have final authorization, but it was proposed to schedule it for Sunday, November 23, Maduro's 63rd birthday, according to reports from the Washington Post.

The content of the pamphlets is highlighted by the $50 million reward that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been offering since August for information leading to Maduro's arrest and conviction, doubling the previous sum of $25 million.

The indictment against Maduro

The formal indictment against him dates from 2020 and singles him out on charges of narcoterrorism, narco-trafficking and corruption.

This possible mission would be part of the "maximum pressure" campaign that Washington maintains and that has intensified recently.

In recent months, the U.S. Navy has deployed a significant contingent of ships in the Caribbean and has carried out operations that, according to the Pentagon, have resulted in the deaths of more than 80 suspected drug traffickers since September.

Maduro's birthday

The chosen moment—Maduro's birthday—would not be casual: it would seek to maximize the psychological impact and send a direct message to the Venezuelan ruler's entourage. The tactic of dropping leaflets from the air has historical precedents in U.S. operations, such as previous campaigns in Iraq in 2003 or during the intervention in Panama in 1989 against Manuel Noriega.

He is not a legitimate president

The United States and more than fifty countries maintain that Maduro lost the July 2024 presidential elections and do not recognize him as a legitimate president. Although the White House and the Pentagon have declined to comment on this specific planning, the idea reflects the current administration's willingness to maintain and increase pressure on Caracas without, for now, reaching a direct military intervention on Venezuelan territory.