Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
US Hit Venezuelan Port Last Week
President Trump announced that the CIA launched a drone strike against a Venezuelan port last week. The White House claimed it was a remote facility used by Tren de Aragua, a gang the administration has decided is the root of all drug evil. The attack occurred when no one was present on the dock, so no one was hurt. This is an escalation from the American attacks on small boats that may be carrying drugs but which lack the range to reach the US. Now, the American government has hit a target within Venezuela. This is an act of war.
CNN reported, Trump acknowledged in an interview on Friday that the US had knocked out some type of 'big facility where ships come from' as he talked about his administration’s campaign against Venezuela. Asked about it again on Monday, he said the US attacked 'in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs.' But he declined to comment when asked whether the attack was conducted by the military or the CIA."
"So we hit all the boats, and now we hit the area,” Mr. Trump said Monday. "It’s the implementation area, that's where they implement, and that is no longer around."
This sounds like a big deal, but the fact is, the strike barely made the news in Venezuela. CNN also stated, “One of the sources said the strike was successful in that it destroyed the facility and its boats, but described it as largely symbolic since it is just one of many port facilities used by drug traffickers leaving Venezuela. It also appeared to attract little to no attention, even inside the country, in real time.
The administration has a set of objectives in Venezuela, and it is rather difficult to decide which objective is furthered by which action. In this instance, it seems that the Americans are probing Venezuelan defenses. While that is pointless in the war on drugs, removing the current Venezuelan regime is served with such a move.
Mr. Trump has been stuck in the 1970s for most of his life. He seems to think that Russia is as strong as the Soviet Union was. He seems to think that oil is so valuable that wars are needed to secure access to the stuff. He believes that Latin America is the realm of US hegemony. In Venezuela, it all comes together. He can beat up on a "communist" government without Russia protecting the target, and when the glorious collapse happens, America oil companies will be there to pick up the pieces. And if all goes well, Mr. Trump will pocket part of the proceeds.
The trouble with regime change is that America is not particularly good at it. The 1945 regime changes were probably the last ones that worked as America hoped. One only needs to look at Afghanistan and Iraq to see how it is a geniunely bad idea.
So far, Venezuela has not reacted. If President Maduro has a brain in his head, that will continue. What Mr. Trump is looking for is an excuse. Nothing would make Mr. Trump happier than sending in the US Marines. That will be a real problem for MAGA, as a great many of the presidential supporters want an end to US combat troops overseas. They voted for an end to forever wars, and they are about to get one in their own backyard.
America has a drug problem, and Venezuela has a Maduro problem. This journal would like both solved permanently and quickly, but reality says these two problems are likely more amenable to management than to solution. What the White House is trying to do is almost impossible, and given the competence of those in the cabinet, it may well be impossible.
The decline under the Trump administration continues to accelerate.,
© Copyright 2025 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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