It Always Comes Back to Our Failed War on Drugs |
Opponents of the U.S. military operation gather outside the Manhattan Federal Court in New York City as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro appears in federal court on drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges following his capture and transfer to the U.S., on Jan. 5, 2026. Photo: Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images
The war on drugs is best understood as a political metaphor. It is a thinly veiled tool of geopolitical warfare the U.S. has conveniently deployed to justify extending its hegemony across the world. And now in Venezuela, the U.S. war on drugs — that unwinnable forever war — is proving a useful fig leaf once again. What’s clear is that it’s the latest installment in the United States’ inglorious history of dozens of “regime change” efforts in Latin America over the past two centuries.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro found this out the hard way earlier this month when he was unquestionably kidnapped, and then indicted, by the U.S. for “narco-terrorism.”
Maduro’s indictment claims he had “moved loads of cocaine under the protection of Venezuelan law enforcement” and “allows cocaine-fueled corruption to flourish,” citing alleged details of the deposed president’s direct involvement in cocaine trafficking. Ultimately, it seems the Venezuelan state has been able to at least partially manage the irrepressible tide of cocaine smuggling through the country, unlike some of its neighbors, and capture some of the criminal profits for security forces — leading to claims it is a “criminal hybrid state.” But perhaps this was a wise move. Sealing their borders is not feasible, and aggressive campaigns to disrupt the multibillion-dollar supply of cocaine inevitably leads to violence.
Regardless of how allegedly involved the president is in the racket, it does not justify U.S. intervention. But the well-worn war on drugs justification has provided a useful Gulf of Tonkin-style lodestar. “We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country,” Trump said........