The United States is assembling a naval force and thousands of Marines off the coasts of Latin America and the Caribbean. They are authorized to use force against several drug cartels that are newly designated terrorist organizations. One of the “narco-terrorist” cartels, the Tren de Aragua gang, is from Venezuela. The Trump administration has also alleged that Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, “is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world.”
Maduro looked the part when Venezuela responded to the United States blowing up an alleged drug boat with fighter jets that threatened a U.S. Navy destroyer on Sept. 4. The Pentagon issued a statement that read, “The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter, or interfere with counternarcotics and counterterrorism operations carried out by the U.S. military.”
The attack on the drug boat took place two days prior, when the U.S. military blew up a Tren de Aragua speedboat that was allegedly trying to smuggle illegal drugs into the United States. Eleven presumed gang members were on the boat, and are now believed deceased. In addition to its more recent drug trafficking, the Tren de Aragua gang is known for extortion, human trafficking, illegal border crossings, sexual exploitation, and contract killings. Venezuelan security forces reportedly oversee billions of dollars worth of drug trafficking annually.
Some pundits are calling the Trump administration’s latest drug bust an “act of war” and a “violation of international law.” But, with U.S. drug overdose deaths at over 100,000 annually, and lack of sufficient counternarcotics cooperation on the part of China, Mexico, and Venezuela, the administration is right to take tougher action. The former strategy of interdicting the drugs and letting gang members go free was failing. The cartels figured into their cost-benefit analyses that some percentage of their drugs and operatives would be captured. That was insufficient to deter them from continuing the flow of deadly drugs towards the United States. Other pundits blame the victim by saying that America is at fault for having so many drug addicts. But, counternarcotics has always involved offensive (against drug cartels and dealers) as well as defensive (putting drug users in rehab) strategies.
Admittedly, the United States has upped its offensive game. CBS News called it a “paradigm shift” in U.S. strategy. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the U.S. military would attack other narco-terrorists running drugs into the United States in similar fashion. Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified the action based on self defense. Trump “has a right, under exigent circumstances, to eliminate imminent threats to the United States,” he said. “If you’re on a boat full of cocaine or fentanyl headed to the United States, you’re an immediate threat to the United States.”
The administration is absolutely correct in this and will eventually get broad public support for its tough actions against narco-terrorism. Unlike before, gang members on cartel boats will now have to decide whether they want to risk their lives in their criminality. In the end, destroying cartel boats in spectacular fashion will better deter them and substantially decrease the number of such boats that reach U.S. shores. That could save up to tens of thousands of U.S. lives, not to mention the lives of thousands of others around the world who overdose due to drug smuggling.
Maduro not only showed no support for the U.S. counternarcotics action against Tren de Aragua, his administration signaled its strong opposition by flying fighter jets on two occasions near U.S. Navy ships in a threatening manner. The Trump administration responded with more than rhetoric. It reportedly deployed 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico on Sept. 5. These will be in easy striking distance of leadership and military targets in Venezuela, cartels in Mexico, or the Cuban military. All have allied too closely with U.S. adversaries, and all are arguably legitimate targets of U.S. military action. In addition to the F-35s, the United States reportedly has 4,000 Marines, three destroyers, a cruiser, and a nuclear-powered attack submarine. On Sept. 6, Trump authorized the U.S. military to shoot down additional Venezuelan jets if they threatened the U.S. Navy again.
Many Venezuelans likely want the United States to do more than target low-level cartel operatives. Until the dictator of Venezuela is deposed, he will likely seek new ways to criminally profit from drug trafficking. So, it is in U.S. interests to assist in any efforts at regime change. The United States has already offered a $50 million bounty for the capture of Maduro. But there aren’t many bounty hunters powerful enough to get past the Venezuelan military. The U.S. military, however, could arrest him in his own country the way it did Gen. Manuel Noriega of Panama. If Maduro is arrested or deposed, the Venezuelan people will likely give a big cheer. They voted for someone else, so it would clear the way for the democratic will of the Venezuelan people to be served. And, it would be a pro-U.S. government that would likely succeed Maduro, who is himself anti-United States and pro-China.
