As President Donald Trump continues his aggressive attack against Venezuelan drug traffickers, it doesn’t take a supersleuth to figure out that the president would also be just fine if the Venezuelan people rose up and kicked their president (read: dictator thug), Nicolás Maduro, to the curb as part of the process.
According to a report by the Miami Herald on Friday morning — also reported by the Wall Street Journal — Trump has decided to up his game a notch — or ten. Per the outlet, which cites “sources with knowledge of the situation,” the president has authorized air strikes on military installations used by drug traffickers in Venezuela, with the report saying the attack could come in days or even hours from now.
Here’s more, via the Herald:
The Trump Administration has made the decision to attack military installations inside Venezuela and the strikes could come at any moment, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Miami Herald, as the U.S. prepares to initiate the next stage of its campaign against the Soles drug cartel.
The planned attacks, also reported by the Wall Street Journal, will seek to destroy military installations used by the drug-trafficking organization the U.S. says is headed by Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and run by top members of his regime.
Sources told the Herald that the targets — which could be struck by air in a matter of days or even hours — also aim to decapitate the cartel’s hierarchy. U.S. officials believe the cartel exports around 500 tons of cocaine yearly, split between Europe and the United States.
While those sources said Trump hasn’t made a final decision on ordering strikes, they also declined to say if Maduro himself would be a potential target. Again, it doesn’t take a supersleuth to figure out, as one source told the outlet, that the corrupt strongman’s time is running out:
Maduro is about to find himself trapped and might soon discover that he cannot flee the country even if he decided to. What’s worse for him, there is now more than one general willing to capture and hand him over, fully aware that one thing is to talk about death, and another to see it coming.
Just One Problem
After the news broke, as later reported by Bloomberg, Trump answered “no” when asked by reporters Friday aboard Air Force One if we were considering strikes on Venezuela, not only contradicting reports that he’d given the OK — but also his past statements that he was preparing land strikes.
That said, let’s address what was initially reported.
While it’s clear that Venezuela, and indeed this part of the world, would be a better place if Maduro were gone, a legitimate question is whether it’s the job of the United States to “usher him out.”
President Trump Unleashes the CIA on Venezuela and Signals Ground Operations Are Very Likely
I’m among those with mixed thoughts about U.S.-led regime changes, but it seems clear there would be pluses for America if Maduro left the scene — intentionally or otherwise.
Among Those Potential Pluses:
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Access to Oil: A pro-U.S. government in Venezuela would likely open the country’s substantial oil reserves to American companies, potentially providing a counterweight to — or leverage against — OPEC.
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Degradation of Drug Cartels: The Maduro regime has long been accused of facilitating criminal activities and sheltering drug cartels, which, as we’ve seen, poses not only a worsening drug pandemic in the U.S. but also a national security threat.
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Regional Leverage: Toppling Maduro — assuming a U.S.-friendly government replaced him — could aid in reasserting U.S. influence throughout Latin America.
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Human Rights and Democracy: Replacing Maduro could empower democratic and humanitarian reforms, aligning with longstanding U.S. policy statements on human rights in the hemisphere.
On the Other Hand, Potential Minuses:
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Insurgency Threats: Ousting Maduro could provoke violent resistance from the Venezuelan military, various militias, and allied criminal groups — which could lead to further entangling the U.S. in the region.
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Economic Cost and Oil Shock: U.S. military operations or instability in a post-Maduro Venezuela could spike global oil prices, which could lead to higher energy costs in the U.S., if only in the short or intermediate term.
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Backlash: Latin American nations, adversarial states, and even local populations may rally against perceived U.S. “imperialism,” fostering anti-American sentiment.
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Diplomatic Fallout: Covert or overt interventions could damage U.S. standing with allies and multilateral bodies — led, of course, by the America-bashing United Nations.
In related news, the State Department and Department of Justice in early August announced the doubling of a $25 million reward to up to $50 million under the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Maduro for violating U.S. narcotics laws — the largest such bounty ever offered by the U.S. government.
I don’t know about you, but if I were Nicolás Maduro, I’d move to an underground bunker, and likely sleep with one eye open, every night.
Meanwhile, full speed ahead with vaporizing the drug-running boats and their cargo on the open seas.
Note: The Schumer Shutdown continues. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown over healthcare for illegals.
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