By ERWIN FREED
In a matter of weeks, the United States struck three boats in international waters near the coast of Venezuela. Trump has claimed, without presenting evidence, that 17 “narco-terrorists” were killed in the attacks and that the boats were trafficking fentanyl and cocaine to the United States. In reality, U.S. imperialism is attempting to prepare the psychological and logistical grounds for expanded special forces operations and direct strikes on sovereign territory throughout Latin America—with Venezuela directly in the crosshairs.
The idea that the U.S. ruling class cares about “stopping drug trafficking” is patently absurd. Putting aside the role of Big Pharma in creating the opioid epidemic, the U.S. military itself actively courts relationships with favored international drug dealers.
During the occupation of Afghanistan, which Trump is also attempting to reengage, poppy production increased over 800%. While all of the various administrations hand waved about the need to “combat” drug production, in reality virtually all of the serious drug traffickers in the country were in the Northern Alliance or high-level figures in the U.S.-backed puppet government. The vast majority of heroin from 2002-2021 came from Afghanistan, a decent proportion from fields directly patrolled by U.S. soldiers. One of the first actions taken by the Taliban after the U.S. withdrawal was the eradication of poppy production. Even mouthpieces for Yankee imperialism like The New York Times have been forced to admit that the Islamic Emirate has been extremely successful on this front.
Even the Drug Enforcement Agency, whose entire reason for existence is stopping drug trafficking, is riddled with people actively working with drug traffickers. Beyond the activity of individual agents like Jose Irazzary, the agency actively launders millions of dollars of drug money on behalf of major drug trafficking organizations. Even ICE was caught allowing its planes to be used to bring hundreds, if not thousands, of tons of cocaine into the United States in “Operation Mayan Jaguar.”
The far right has embraced a narrative that neocolonial governments are conspiring to “poison” white Americans. These obvious lies are made to justify military actions against working class, peasant, and Indigenous communities in Latin America and throughout the world (including domestically). At the same time, they give cover to the military and police operations and the big U.S.-based banks who profit politically and economically from the criminalized narcotics trade.
SOUTHCOM’s (U.S. Southern Command’s) horrific acts of violence have no purpose other than to terrorize and threaten working and oppressed people in Latin America. By attacking civilian boats, Trump is signaling that no one is safe from being killed arbitrarily. According to reports, due to the precarious state of the Venezuelan economy, some fishermen find themselves forced to participate in illegal activities such as drug running or transporting migrants. These attacks have already greatly hurt local communities in coastal Venezuelan towns by deterring even “normal” industries.
Of course, there is nothing new about the U.S. ruling class’s complete disregard for human life. As journalist Seth Harp has detailed in his important recent book, “The Fort Bragg Cartel,” Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) operatives are constantly carrying out assassination missions throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean on the basis of bad intelligence. A common situation, for example, will be that a JSOC or CIA “asset” who is himself a trafficker or warlord will give the location of his enemies, clearing the field of competition.
Workers in the U.S. must not be fooled by the xenophobic and racist propaganda shared by both the Democratic and Republican parties that military actions against “drug trafficking” will somehow stop the epidemic of overdose deaths and addiction in this country.
Trump’s decision to publicize these brutal bombings act to normalize extra-judicial killings. But there is nothing normal about the richest country in history mobilizing the newest and most destructive military equipment against poor fishermen. All sectors of workers in the United States must stand completely against these imperialist escalations and with all of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean, including and especially the millions of migrants, regardless of documentation or status.
