US War on Drugs Redux: Venezuela Gets 'Freedom' via Proxy
Today's headlines present the U.S. killing 4 in the Pacific, adding to a near 100-person death toll from maritime intercepts, all linked to 'spiraling Venezuela tensions' (Al Jazeera, 12/18/2025). This framing suggests Caracas's regional policies are somehow driving drug boats through international waters in an entirely different hemisphere. Perhaps we're to ignore the perennial 'War on Drugs' –
historically a euphemism for geopolitical intervention and regime change in Latin America. The timing is always impeccable: 'tension' with a resource-rich nation, then a sudden surge in 'drug interdictions' conveniently far from US shores. Is it a war on drugs, or a slow, deadly blockade designed to isolate a sovereign nation the US doesn't like? The historical pattern of destabilization, from
Chile in '73 to Nicaragua in the '80s, suggests the latter. One might wonder if the 'drug boats' themselves are simply props in a much larger geopolitical play, with US 'security' interests never quite aligning with international law.