Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“So far, much of the reaction to Trump’s recent order to use military assets against foreign drug cartels has been focused on the cartels in Mexico. But the administration has described the recent deployment of naval assets to Venezuela’s coast as part of the same effort. In fact, yesterday they claimed those assets struck a vessel carrying drugs. But it’s still a bit out of the way from the areas where the bulk of drug smuggling is believed to take place, which suggests that countering Maduro’s regime may be just as big a priority as Trump’s escalation of the war on drugs. But if the hostility between the US and Venezuela is nothing new, what explains the recent escalation? Well, the answer appears to be, as it often is, cronyism.” (09/03/25)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/venezuela-military-deployment-about-cronyism-not-national-security