Pope condemns Trump’s threat to Venezuela and exposes risk of war

Pope Leo XIV ended his trip to Lebanon this Tuesday (2) with gestures of memory and denunciation — and took advantage of the return flight to send a public message to the United States government. At the port of Beirut, where the 2020 explosion killed 200 people and remains unpunished, the pontiff spoke of reconstruction and responsibility.

In front of 150,000 people, according to the Vatican, Leo XIV celebrated mass by the sea, asking that Lebanon return “to its splendor” after years of crisis. In a ceremony open to the city and the Mediterranean, he reaffirmed his line of “presence, clarity and negotiation” — an identity card of the new pontificate, which tries to “disarm hearts in a world taken by extremism”.

But it was inside the plane that directly targeted Washington and Donald Trump’s bellicose rhetoric.

‘It’s the people who suffer, not the authorities’

Asked about the risk of an American military operation against Venezuela, Leão XIV was categorical: the US should not use force to overthrow Nicolás Maduro. He rejected the military escalation fueled by Trump and criticized the constant change of signals coming from the White House.

“It is better to seek forms of dialogue, or perhaps pressure, even economic pressure,” he said. He also criticized the inconsistency of signals coming from Washington: “The voices coming from the United States change with a certain frequency.”

Leo XIV’s statement comes after Trump confirmed a telephone conversation with Maduro, despite subsequent threats of an air blockade and ground intervention. Days after the call, Washington designated the so-called “Los Soles Cartel” as a terrorist organization — without published evidence — accusing Maduro of leading it, a measure seen by analysts as a pretext for more aggressive actions.

While the Venezuelan government denounces the accusation as fabrication, the climate in the region has deteriorated, with airlines suspending flights and airspace under international pressure.

“On the one hand there is a connection, on the other there is a threat of an operation,” he said, pointing out the unpredictability of a government that makes ambiguity a strategic — and dangerous — instrument.

For the Pope, the main impact of any military adventure would be, as always, on civilians: “It is the people who suffer most, not the authorities”.

Trump plays with fire in the Caribbean

The pontiff’s criticism comes at a time when Trump is hardening his tone against Caracas, expanding military exercises in the region, sending warships to the Caribbean, classifying the “Los Soles Cartel” as a terrorist organization without presenting evidence and hinting at air blockades and even a land operation.

The recent telephone conversation between Trump and Maduro — which the American president himself described as “neither good nor bad” — did not bring moderation. On the contrary: pressure, threat and volatility increased.

Analysts see this stance as a theater of geopolitical intimidation that places millions of Venezuelans as hostages in power struggles between Washington and Caracas.

Pontificate born amid ruins and abuse of powers

In Beirut, Leo XIV celebrated mass in front of 150,000 people, calling for the reconstruction of the country and the pacification of the Middle East. Alongside Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, he defended the end of hostilities and the unity of even “enemies”.

The trip, marked by empathy and firmness, offered a direct counterpoint to Trump’s policy of coercion: while the Pope tries to disarm hearts and rebuild bridges, Washington increases military threats and regional instability.

Dialogue against warmongering

Upon finishing his first major international mission, Leo XIV reinforced that political changes cannot be imposed “with fire and iron”. And while he admitted that economic pressures may play a role, he made clear that American military action would be an avoidable catastrophe.

Upon concluding the trip, Leo XIV reinforced that his pontificate “takes off” marked by symbolic gestures in wounded places. Between ruins and hope, it tries to exert a moderating influence in an unstable global environment — seeking, above all, “to prevent another war from opening where there is already too much suffering”.

The new pontificate openly challenges the excesses of powers that treat external conflicts as a stage for demonstrations of force — denouncing, albeit between the lines, the risk that Trump poses to hemispheric stability.