There have been many silly things done by this administration. Probably the silliest was the big announcement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the State Department is changing the font for its documents back to Times New Roman from Calibri. Rubio called the original change “woke,” claiming it had been done to mitigate accessibility issues for individuals with disabilities. With all of the international crises going on—Ukraine, Israel and Hamas, Syria, and Venezuela—the Secretary of State felt it was so important to change the font back to Times New Roman.
Now to my main topic. Last week, I was toying with the idea of writing again about the United States’ attacks on boats near Venezuela. In particular, there was controversy about the second attack on a boat on September 2. I waited because I had hoped that the video of the second attack would be released to the public. Trump, in response to a reporter’s question, had said that he had no problem releasing the tape. One thing you know about Trump: he is a man of his word. If he promises something, it will happen. He never changes his mind.
Trump was subsequently asked about having the video released, and he denied having said that he supported it. He said he would leave it up to Secretary of Defense Hegseth. This should not be a surprise, because we know that in the Trump administration, Trump lets his subordinates do what they want. He never tells them what to do.
A tape was released this past week. It showed the military boarding and taking over a ship that had left Venezuela with oil. It is amazing that when it comes to a video the administration believes puts it in a positive light, there is no concern about disclosure of methods, and the video is immediately distributed. In contrast, when a video is problematic, they stonewall. They know that showing the tape from the end of the first attack until the second strike that killed those on the boat would cause outrage.
The claimed reason for the attacks is that those who transport drugs are causing Americans to die and are therefore deemed terrorists. I could spend an entire article addressing whether extrajudicial killing—meaning killing without legal process—of alleged traffickers is allowed under United States and international law. We are still waiting to see the memo from the Department of Defense outlining the legal justification for the attacks. However, there is no need to address the legality of the claimed rationale, because the stated reason itself is bogus.
There are many problems with the government’s claim. First, no proof has been presented that the targeted boats contained illegal drugs. Second, there is a lack of evidence that the drugs were destined for the United States. There was an admission by the admiral in charge that in the September 2 attack, the boat was supposed to meet up with a larger vessel transporting drugs to Suriname, not to America. Cocaine is the drug coming from Venezuela. Fentanyl kills far more Americans than cocaine. There are places from which fentanyl originates, such as China, yet those routes are not targeted. Furthermore, two survivors of another boat strike were not arrested but instead were repatriated.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Trump pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been convicted of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and sentenced to 45 years in prison. Hernández, while president, helped facilitate the importation of tons of cocaine into the United States. He received millions of dollars in drug money from some of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking organizations in the hemisphere. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that Hernández “abused his presidency to operate the country as a narco-state where violent traffickers operated with near-total impunity.”
The destruction of the boats, the boarding of ships, the placement of a large American fleet near Venezuela, and Trump’s threats of a land attack and demands that Maduro step down are part of a pressure campaign for regime change. It is not because of a claimed government-run criminal drug enterprise—Trump just pardoned a leader who actually ran one. It also has nothing to do with the claim that Maduro is illegally in power because he lost the last election. Trump has no problem dealing with authoritarian leaders such as Putin, Xi, and Mohammed bin Salman. It is all about oil. Trump wants the United States to control Venezuela’s oil, and Maduro stands in the way.
Polls show that a majority oppose Trump’s actions concerning extrajudicial killing on the high seas and his plan for regime change in Venezuela. This is one of many actions by the Trump administration that are unpopular, seem cruel, and cause unnecessary pain. Pain is all around, like a boat on troubled water.