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https://theconversation.com/trumps-narco-terrorism-war-in-latin-america-evokes-reagan-then-as-now-its-more-about-fighting-leftists-than-drug-runners-284287>
"More than any other U.S. president in decades, Donald Trump has aggressively
pursued military interventions in Latin America.
On Jan. 3, 2026, U.S. special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás
Maduro on charges of narco-terrorism. In the months before the operation, U.S.
Southern Command began targeting small, fast-moving boats in the Caribbean and
eastern Pacific. The death toll from the continuing war on these alleged
narco-terrorists has risen to over 200 people.
At the heart of these events is the Trump administration’s stated goal of
combating drug trafficking organizations. The White House and State Department
have designated a plethora of guerrilla groups, drug cartels, gangs and
criminal enterprises as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
Washington has also expanded security ties with Ecuador and El Salvador, which
are led by right-wing Trump allies. At the same time, the administration has
pressured left-wing governments in Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil and Mexico to
join the U.S. war on drugs or else risk Trump’s wrath.
When it comes to opening legal avenues for the application of armed force, the
narco-terrorism label is useful. Indeed, it is how the Trump administration
justified Operation Absolute Resolve to capture and indict Maduro. Yet Trump’s
decision to pardon a right-wing ally – former Honduran President Juan Orlando
Hernández – who was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison for drug
trafficking and related weapons offenses, appeared to some observers to be “at
odds with Trump’s war on drugs.”
The history of that war on drugs, however, especially during the presidency of
Ronald Reagan, shows that the narco-terrorism label has always been
politicized. My research on Reagan and the drug war suggests that the
nebulousness of the concept aided U.S. policymakers in achieving fundamentally
anti-communist and anti-leftist political objectives."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
