One thing Kuo didn't mention: "...most of the main routes of cocaine trafficking in 2023 and 2024 into the US passed through Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, rather than Venezuela." Apparently most of the cocaine from Venezuela goes to Europe, not to America.
"Although it's late in coming, there's more reaction today to Trump and Hegseth's attack on the boat from--supposedly--Venezuela. One article, from Jay Kuo, is especially good. Till now, I hadn't realized that Trump DIRECTLY ORDERED that the boat be blown up. A violation of international law, among many other things. He and Hegseth are children with very dangerous toys. AND we learn that in 2019, during Trump's first term, our people messed up while trying to attach a listening device to a North Korean boat. Realizing their mistake, they blew it up, killing all the people aboard. They were evidently civilians."
Also from Kuo's good article:
"In a final zoom out, consider this. The attack is likely a test run, using bogus justifications, to prepare for a full-scale military attack on Venezuela. Indeed, Trump may be readying the ground to put the nation on a constant wartime footing, which he could then leverage to attempt to suspend constitutional rights and elections back home. To this end, he even plans to rename the Department of Defense the “Department of War.”"
Is Venezuela the big cocaine menace Trump claims it to be? [...] The US attack on the Venezuelan boat on Tuesday came just a few days after news reports circulated about US warships advancing into Venezuelan waters.
Last month, The New York Times reported that Trump had signed a secret directive instructing the Pentagon to use military force against certain Latin American drug cartels designated by the US as foreign terrorist organisations.
Earlier in August, multiple news agencies reported that three US Aegis-class guided missile destroyer ships had headed to the Caribbean alongside other warships to counter narcotics trafficking.
The Reuters news agency, quoting two anonymous individuals who had been briefed on the deployment, reported that USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima, and USS Fort Lauderdale were headed towards the Venezuelan coast, carrying 4,500 US service members, including 2,200 Marines.
The US Fleet Forces Command published a news release on August 14, saying sailors and Marines assigned to the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group had departed from Norfolk, Virginia and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The release did not explicitly state details of the mission or specify where the group is being deployed.
[...] The strike probably also flouted the US Constitution, constitutional law expert Bruce Fein told Al Jazeera.
“Any use of the military [except] in self-defence to an actual attack requires express congressional statutory authorisation. The military attack on the alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers was unconstitutional,” Fein said. [...] How has Venezuela responded?
In response to the US deployment of warships, President Nicolas Maduro urged his supporters to join militias to protect the country, saying, “No empire will touch the sacred soil of Venezuela.”
One such armed group is the Bolivarian Militia, which is named after Simon Bolivar, who was a Caracas-born independence leader who liberated the modern-day Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bolivia from the Spanish Empire. [...] Maduro returned to power after last year’s disputed election, which resulted in widespread accusations of fraud from within and outside Venezuela. In July 2024, independent observer, the Carter Center released a statement saying it could not verify the election results declared by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE). The statement added the election “did not meet international standards of electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic”. A panel of United Nations experts also echoed this. Nine Latin American countries demanded a review of the election results in the presence of independent observers.
The US has not had a formal diplomatic relationship with Venezuela since 2019 and does not recognise Maduro’s presidency as legitimate. [...] Are the Trump administration’s allegations against Venezuela true?
The Trump administration has not provided any evidence linking Maduro to Tren de Aragua or any other drug cartel, and the Venezuelan leader has denied the allegations.
The US intelligence community has also contradicted the Trump administration’s claims that there are links between the Venezuelan government and Tren de Aragua.
A classified assessment by the National Intelligence Council released in April repeatedly stated that there was no evidence of coordination between Tren de Aragua and any senior leaders in the Maduro administration, although it did state that the permissive environment in Venezuela allowed drug gangs to flourish.
The report drew input from all 18 agencies that comprise the US intelligence community. All agencies, except the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), agreed with the findings.
------ [Insert: Trump Directs Military to Target Foreign Drug Cartels "Lessons of "Clear and Present Danger" mean nothing to Trump government. Law, judicial judgement and congressional authority also mean little to most of them. " [...] In February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the top lawyers for the military services .. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/politics/hegseth-firings-military-lawyers-jag.html , or judge advocates general. The three-star uniformed lawyers are supposed to give independent and nonpolitical advice about international laws of war and domestic legal constraints on the armed forces. [What's that flying out of that Defense dept window? Accountability.] The administration has also largely sidelined the Office of Legal Counsel .. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/us/politics/trump-office-of-legal-counsel-doj.html , the Justice Department arm that traditionally serves as a powerful gatekeeper in American government, including by deciding whether proposed policies are legally permissible. P - Late last month, the Senate confirmed Earl Matthews to be Pentagon general counsel, and T. Elliot Gaiser to lead the Office of Legal Counsel. Interpreting what would be legally permissible in terms of using military force against cartels may be an early test for both of the new appointees. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176552177] ------ [...] How much cocaine comes from Venezuela?
According to the World Drug Report, published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) this year, the global production of cocaine reached a record high in 2023, exceeding an estimated 3,708 tonnes – an increase of nearly one-third compared with the previous year.
The UNODC report shows that a majority of the coca bush, from which cocaine is derived, was cultivated in Colombia, followed by Peru and Bolivia. The report also shows that most of the main routes of cocaine trafficking in 2023 and 2024 into the US passed through Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, rather than Venezuela.
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