US Policy: From 'Freedom Fighter' to 'Drug Lord' in 20 Years
CBS News dutifully explores what President Trump's Venezuela policy could mean for U.S. foreign strategy, framing his rhetoric of 'national security' and 'drug trafficking' as a novel development. They ponder 'whether it signals a broader push for regime change.' (Spoiler alert: it always signals regime change.) This isn't strategy, it's a worn-out script. From Noriega in Panama (allegedly a 'drug
trafficker') to Saddam Hussein (weapons of mass destruction), Washington's pretexts for intervention against uncooperative regimes are as interchangeable as a Hollywood sequel. The only thing 'new' is the villain's costume – and perhaps the latest batch of sanctions designed to immiserate the population into submitting to D.C.'s preferred leader. Once upon a time, Hugo Chávez was criticized for
being 'anti-democratic'; now, any leader not aligned with US interests is a 'threat to national security' or, conveniently, a 'drug lord.' One might ask: how many times can the US declare a Latin American leader a 'national security threat' before we acknowledge it's just a euphemism for 'doesn't follow orders'?