Trump targets Venezuelan drug trafficking regime with military force

The Venezuelan drug state poses a clear threat to America’s security and prosperity. Two decades of socialism have devastated this once-rich country, spreading instability and transnational crime throughout the Western Hemisphere. After four years of appeasement under the president Joe BidenWe cannot ignore the problem any longer.

president Donald Trump It sends a clear and necessary message to the Maduro regime that the days of destabilizing the Western Hemisphere with impunity are over. Trump warns drug dealers around the world. Let’s be clear: Venezuelan narco-terrorists and their drug shipments represent a threat to the American people. Trump has the right and responsibility to use military force to stop these attacks.

In many ways, Trump’s approach is a continuation of the tough policies we pursued during my time as Secretary of State under the first Trump administration. We recognized the dangers that this drug-trafficking dictatorship, allied with America’s enemies like Iran, Cuba, China, and Russia, posed to our interests, and we were determined to do what was necessary to protect the American people.

That’s why we launched a pressure campaign to isolate the regime and raise costs for Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro by crippling the country’s ability to export its largest source of income – reducing oil exports by 70% in just a few years. Trump’s Justice Department indicted Maduro and his associates on corruption-related charges Terrorism and drug traffickingThe administration expanded its anti-narcotics operations targeting drug routes from Venezuela.

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Soldiers from the Venezuelan army march in military vehicles during a parade as part of Independence Day celebrations at Fuerte Teona in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 5, 2023. (Pedro Rances Mattei/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

We also put our support firmly behind you Venezuelan Democratic OppositionWhen Maduro stole the 2019 presidential election from pro-democracy opposition candidate Juan Guaido, we took the bold step of recognizing Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela and led diplomatic efforts to motivate other countries to do the same.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration abandoned these policies, and American deterrence quickly collapsed. Sanctions were lifted or eased, giving the regime a lifeline and emboldening Maduro to steal another election in 2024. The Biden administration released Alex Saab — the alleged bag man for Maduro and Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who is said to be responsible for moving billions in money, gold and weapons between Venezuela and Iran — as part of a prisoner exchange in an official appeasement operation that delivered a major victory for the Maduro regime.

Meanwhile, the ongoing disintegration of the Venezuelan economy, combined with Biden’s de facto open borders policy, has brought hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants to the United States, including notorious gangs like the Tren de Aragua. Maduro has even taken advantage of the influx of migrants to extract concessions from the United States and secure his grip on power.

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Fortunately, Trump is starting to get things back on track. In addition to strikes targeting drug traffickers and the military buildup in the Caribbean, the new administration has canceled oil concessions granted under Biden, imposed secondary tariffs on countries that buy oil from Venezuela, and doubled the reward for Maduro’s arrest as leader of the Cartel de los Soles. He went after the Tren de Aragua. As his strategy in Venezuela continues to coalesce around a more confrontational approach, we should be guided by some basic principles.

The United States should be clear that Maduro is illegitimate and throw its support behind the democratic opposition movement led by Maria Corina Machado. Maduro has remained in power by stealing not one, but two elections, and has no popular legitimacy whatsoever. True democratic reform, while by no means easy to achieve, is the only way Venezuela can set itself up for future success and become a source of prosperity and partnership rather than violence and instability.

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Moreover, we must understand that there can be no accommodation to the Maduro regime, which threatens core American interests by destabilizing the entire region and exporting transnational crime to our shores. Accordingly, Our strategy The United States should use all available pressure points – including sanctions and kinetic actions where appropriate – to restrict the Venezuelan government’s ability to conduct business as usual.

Finally, we must remember that America’s enemies want nothing more than for the United States to withdraw from Latin America and elsewhere in the world. While Venezuela’s collapse pushes even staunch allies like China and Russia to take a step back, any situation in which the Maduro regime is able to stabilize will invite re-engagement by the world’s worst actors and create an unacceptable threat very close to our borders.

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Sanctions were lifted or eased, giving the regime a lifeline and emboldening Maduro to steal another election in 2024.

As President Trump’s new National Security Strategy argues, it is time to reaffirm and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to protect American interests in the Western Hemisphere and prevent our adversaries from gaining the ability to project power in the Americas.

Venezuela’s collapse is another example of socialism’s inevitable endpoint: authoritarianism, economic disaster, and rising instability. The longer the Maduro regime remains in power, the worse the situation will become for Venezuelans and neighboring countries in Latin America and the entire Western Hemisphere. Our strategy must reflect this understanding and enable the administration to use all available tools to protect and advance American interests.

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