U.S. Strikes Raise Questions About True Target in Venezuela interdiction
WASHINGTON – Recent U.S. military actions against vessels suspected of drug trafficking off the Venezuelan coast are prompting scrutiny over whether the stated mission is the complete picture, with some observers suggesting a broader strategic objective linked to the Maduro regime. The first U.S. strike,in September,targeted a boat carrying eleven individuals – a number considered unusually high for a typical drug-running operation,according to former government officials.
The incidents unfold against a backdrop of escalating political tensions and a complex relationship between Washington and Caracas. while the U.S. officially frames the operations as part of a counternarcotics effort, the context includes Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian rule, the country’s economic collapse which has spurred mass migration – nearly eight million people have fled in the past decade – and accusations of harboring terrorist groups and criminal organizations.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado,recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 10th,has actively sought U.S. intervention to oust Maduro, even dedicating her prize to former President Donald Trump. “We all know that the head of Tren de Aragua is Maduro,” Machado told Donald Trump, Jr., in February, further alleging the regime “created, promoted, and financed” the criminal group. She also accused Maduro’s government of providing refuge for “terrorists, drug cartels, and groups like Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and China.”
The unusual number of people aboard the intercepted vessel has raised eyebrows among those familiar with drug trafficking patterns.”There’s almost always three or four: a navigator, a pilot, and a person to put gas in the boat,” explained former official Story. “There are never eleven people on a drug boat because each person is drugs that you can’t transport.”
The intercepted boat was located near San Juan de Unare, a Venezuelan fishing town known as a transit point for cocaine and marijuana smuggling. Following the bombing, families of those killed initially shared testimonials on social media, but the Venezuelan government reportedly pressured them to remove the posts, according to Venezuelan crime journalist Ronna Rísquez. “Both governments”-the U.S.and Venezuela-“like to lie,” she stated.