New York, Nov 20 US President Donald Trump may be aiming for the Nobel Peace Prize, but he is also sending mixed signals about a conflict that could escalate to a war with Venezuela.
As he ratchets up the confrontation with Venezuela’s Russia and Cuba-aligned President Nicolas Maduro, he is co-opting it into his war on drugs, rather than framing it as regime change in a country that is an outpost of anti-US radicalism.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called Maduro the boss of Cartel de los Soles, which the US has designated as a narco-terrorist organisation, anointing him a drug lord rather than a head of state.
His MAGA (Make America Great Again) hardliners’ base is against foreign interventions with ground troops, drawing lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan, and Trump has also spoken out against military action by his predecessors.
If his psychological war of intimidation by naval and air interventions doesn’t lead to the ouster of or surrender by Maduro, Trump could use the euphemism of war on drugs to, in effect, carry out a regime change.
Asked by a reporter on Monday if a ground assault was possible, Trump said, “No, I don't rule out that. I don't rule out anything”.
“We just have to take care of Venezuela,” he said.
Over the weekend, the newly renamed Department of War sent its biggest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald Ford and its strike group of warships and aircraft to the Caribbean, within striking distance of Venezuela.
About 15,000 troops have been moved to the region, while, according to CBS News, drones, some for surveillance and some fitted with missiles, have been hovering over the region.
And last month, Trump confirmed in a White House interaction with the media that he had authorised the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to go into Venezuela.
He is tying any possible action in that Central American to illegal migration and his war on drugs.
Giving his reasons, he said, "Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America”.
"And the other thing is drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela”, he added.
Yet, in the middle of the campaign of military intimidation, Trump has said he was open to talks with Maduro, who carries a US bounty of $50 million.
“We may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out,” Trump said on Sunday.
Asked if they were negotiations, he dismissed the suggestion, saying, “I talk to anybody; I talk to you”.
While not making any concessions, Maduro appeared to make a plea for peace, invoking John Lennon.
An orator given to dramatics, he sang, “Imagine all the people ...”, a line from Lennon’s anti-war anthem in English, before switching back to Spanish, and asking the crowd to look up the lyrics.
Maduro, who was accused by former President Joe Biden’s administration of stealing last year’s Venezuelan Presidential elections, has been hit continuously by charges of human rights violations and of suppressing democracy during his 12-year rule.
Trump, who does not make democracy the touchstone of international relations, has spoken out against the regime change policies of his predecessors.
But drugs are a different matter. His administration launched an anti-drug campaign using the military in September to bomb on high seas at least 22 boats so far and killing over 80 people, allegedly transporting drugs.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has called the latest Caribbean deployment Operation Southern Spear an intensification of the anti-narcotics war.
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