US 'War on Drugs' in Venezuela: The Pretext That Keeps Giving
Al Jazeera's 'Pinch Point' segment muses whether the US brinkmanship with Venezuela is purely about Trump's 'war on drugs' or a 'new cold war' with China. Conveniently, this framing sidesteps the entire history of US intervention in Latin America, where 'drugs' and 'communism' (now 'China') have long been interchangeable pretexts for asserting control over resource-rich nations. From the United
Fruit Company's 1954 Guatemala coup to Operation Condor's reign of terror, the playbook is remarkably consistent. One might wonder when the US will launch a 'war on freedom' in its own banking sector, notorious for laundering drug money, or address the actual drivers of drug demand at home. Instead, it’s always about policing sovereign nations, particularly those with significant oil reserves or
strategic alliances—like Venezuela with China. The only 'new' thing here is the label for the perceived threat, not the imperial ambition behind it.