President Trump needed to shore up his base. Pulverizing small boats in the Caribbean is popular with his supporters. So Trump accused Venezuela of narco-trafficking and bombed 20 of its boats he claimed were loaded with drugs, which killed 83 people. The reason for the bombings was manufactured.
Trump is using our war against drugs as an excuse to invade Venezuela in order to gain control of the largest oil reserves in the world. It’s the exact type of treachery and violation of international law that we’re condemning and battling against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Trump’s claim that Venezuelan boats are carrying drugs is either uninformed or fabricated. More than 90% of all seized fentanyl, 97% of all seized cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine came in through legal entry points. Less common methods include tunnels, drones, and the international mail system. None of the sourced reports include boats. The U.S. doesn’t list the Caribbean as a significant source of drugs.
Moreover, fentanyl is overwhelmingly produced in Mexico. 84% of cocaine seized in the US came from Columbia, the world’s largest producer.
Nevertheless, consistent with Trump’s pattern of mendacity, he resorted to fictions. And consistent with the immutable devotion of Trumps disciples, they embrace his fictions.
Trump’s bombings are anachronistic. They might have been useful in the era of Pablo Escobar when drug cartels made use of the Caribbean. Today almost none of the drugs smuggled into the United States enter via the Caribbean.
There’s something else percolating. Trump has weighed options to strike inside Venezuela and warned US land action will start very soon.
Trump has deployed, off Venezuela’s coast, more than a dozen US warships, 15,000 troops, a fleet of aircraft carriers, destroyers equipped with guided-missiles, and amphibious assault ships. It’s the largest military buildup since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 . Certainly, Venezuela’s pittance of drug smuggling doesn’t come close to justifying Trump’s military aggression. It looks a lot more like preparation for a land invasion than drug interdiction.
The fallout of Trump’s threats, or if he seizes control of Venezuela’s oil reserves, will be beyond troublesome. For example:
- The United States will become the Russian bully of the Western Hemisphere. Trump’s aggression will increase and spread the distrust and disrespect of the United States across the globe.
- Venezuela and other Latin American countries (like Venezuelan allies, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Bolivia) will seek military support from Russia and China. Russia already provides Venezuela with military cooperation and is Venezuela’s strongest geopolitical backer. China, Venezuela’s largest importer of oil, already provides it with economic support.
- Both Russia and China will use the relationships with Venezuela and other concerned countries against U.S. interests.
- U.S. travelers will not be warmly received in most countries.
- our trading partners will switch to other partners, our access to international trade will suffer.
And what if Trump’s bluffing with the biggest military force since 1962 that’s costing $18 million per day and totaling $600 million since August. That sum that will grow to around $19 billion, given that the deployment is planned to last almost to the end of Trump’s term.
All this while Trump cuts Medicare, Medicaid and nutrition assistance for low-income families, and while the wealthy siphon billions from those safety nets to replace the estimated $4 trillion lost from Trump’s $4.5 trillion tax cut for the wealthy.
Sadly, it won’t rally Trump’s enslaved Republicans to stop him, and his base won’t notice or care.
Twitter (X) https://x.com/ChaosPolicy/status/1998438448869552501?s=20
