A timely opinion piece from Daniel Mendiola, a professor of Latin American history and migration studies at Vassar College this morning on the situation currently playing out around Venezuela.
For the last two months, US forces have amassed outside Venezuela and carried out a series of lethal strikes on civilian boats. The Trump White House has ordered these actions in the name of fighting “narco-terrorists” – a label apparently applicable to anyone suspected of participating in drug trafficking near Latin American coastlines.
More than 80 people have already been killed in these pre-emptive strikes, and war hawks are calling for expanded military action to depose the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro.
While on the surface Trump’s second term has been characterized by a disorienting barrage of executive orders and culture war polemics, the administration has in fact been running a cohesive authoritarian playbook aimed at conferring near limitless powers to the presidency. These concerted efforts have played out in numerous policy arenas from immigration, to higher education, to economics, to even determining who is a citizen.
Consistent with this pattern, Trump is asserting the same unchecked authority over the violent capacities of the US military.
The Trump White House is similarly asserting the unencumbered right to define “terrorist”, along with the corresponding right to take deadly action with virtually no outside oversight.
In public statements, Trump has defended treating drug smugglers as terrorists by citing the harm done by drug overdoses, in effect suggesting that drug traffickers are directly killing US citizens. Ignoring the fact that Venezuela doesn’t produce fentanyl, the main driver of overdoses in the US, Trump has even gone so far as to float the mathematically impossible claim that each boat strike has saved 25,000 lives. Of course, officials have provided zero public evidence that the boats attacked were carrying drugs at all, much less tried to explain how blowing up boats would have any impact at all on drug abuse in the US.
But again, why would they? The whole point of the argument is that such facts don’t matter because Trump simply has the unchecked authority to use lethal force.
Updated
Reports US ready for next phase of Venezuela military operations
Trump has been escalating pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and has now labelled him and government allies as members of a foreign terrorist organization.
That designation is another step towards criminalizing Maduro – analysts say it could pressure Maduro into stepping down with the threat of military force.
It also potentially gives the US expanded military options for striking within the country, US media is reporting.
Reports of looming action have proliferated in recent weeks as the US military has deployed warships to the Caribbean amid worsening relations.
Reuters had an alarming exclusive yesterday, saying the US is poised to launch a new phase of operations in the coming days, according to four unnamed US officials.
The exact timing or scope of the new operations is unknown, and it’s not clear either whether Trump has made a final decision to act, Reuters reported.
Updated
Good morning
And welcome to our US politics live blog. I’m Frances Mao and I’ll be taking you through the major developments these next few hours.
The US and Ukraine say they have made progress in talks on ending the war with Russia, with Marco Rubio announcing amendments to a “refined” draft agreement.
However Donald Trump has lashed out at Ukraine’s leadership, saying Kyiv has shown “zero gratitude”.
His administration has also designated Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, as a member of a foreign terrorist organisation, which could allow for the hit of new sanctions. Reports also emerged on the weekend that the US military could be set to move into a new phase of operations in the Caribbean this week. More on this soon.
The resignation of Maga loyalist turned rebel Marjorie Taylor Greene is a warning sign to Trump, analysts say. The Georgian congresswoman had once been one of Trump’s most vocal allies but she announced an exit on Friday, following a public spat over the Epstein files, saying she refused to be a “battered wife”.
And Trump’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) – famously run by Elon Musk for a few months – has disbanded with eight months left on its mandate, ending a highly-publicised initiative that had been a symbol of Trump’s pledge to slash the government’s size but which critics say delivered few measurable savings.
