US Deploys 10,000 Troops to Caribbean, Cites 'Counternarcotics'
When the U.S. Navy deploys an aircraft carrier strike group, a Marine expeditionary unit, and multiple destroyers, The Hill calls it 'counternarcotics'. Historically, similar U.S. military presences in Latin America have been precursors to regime change, 'security assistance' for unsavory actors, or outright invasions. Recall Operation Just Cause in Panama, or the decades of 'counternarcotics' in
Colombia that saw U.S. military aid coincide with resource extraction and political destabilization. One might wonder if these 10,000 troops are specifically looking for cocaine, or perhaps just looking at Venezuela, a country under crippling U.S. sanctions whose oil reserves remain stubbornly un-democratized. The U.S. has a long, unbroken tradition of framing geopolitical objectives as
humanitarian or security crises, especially when targeting resource-rich nations or those that dare to defy Washington. It appears the 'War on Drugs' has simply received a multi-billion dollar, aircraft-carrier-sized upgrade.