Trump targets Venezuelan drug trafficking regime with military force

The Venezuelan narco-state poses a clear threat to America’s security and prosperity. Two decades of socialism have destroyed this once-rich country and spread instability and transnational crime across the Western Hemisphere. After four years of appeasement under President Joe Biden, we can no longer ignore the problem.

President Donald Trump is sending a clear and necessary message to the Maduro regime that the days of destabilizing the Western Hemisphere with impunity are over. Trump warns drug traffickers around the world. Let’s be clear: Venezuelan narco-terrorists and their drug shipments pose a threat to the American people. Trump has the right and responsibility to use military force to stop them.

In many ways, Trump’s approach is a continuation of the hardline policies we pursued during my time as secretary of state under the first Trump administration. We recognized the dangers to our interests from this drug-trafficking dictatorship, which collaborated with America’s enemies such as Iran, Cuba, China, and Russia, and we were determined to do what was necessary to protect the American people.

Therefore, we launched a pressure campaign to isolate the regime and increase costs for Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro by crippling the country’s ability to export its largest sources of income; We reduced oil exports by 70% in just a few years. The Trump Justice Department indicted Maduro and his followers on narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges, and the administration expanded counternarcotics operations targeting drug routes from Venezuela.

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We also throw our support firmly in the Venezuelan democratic opposition: When Maduro stole the 2019 presidential election from pro-democracy opposition candidate Juan Guaidó, we took the bold step of recognizing Guaidó as the rightful president of Venezuela and led diplomatic efforts to encourage other countries to do the same.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration abandoned these policies, and America’s deterrent immediately collapsed. Lifting or easing sanctions gave the regime a lifeline and emboldened Maduro to steal another election in 2024. Alex Saab, the alleged smuggler of Maduro and Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei and responsible for moving billions of money, gold and weapons between Venezuela and Iran, was released as part of a prisoner swap carried out by the Biden administration as part of a rank appeasement that brought a major victory to the Maduro regime.

Meanwhile, the ongoing disintegration of the Venezuelan economy, combined with Biden’s de facto open border policy, has brought hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants to the United States, including from notorious gangs like the Tren de Aragua. Maduro has even taken advantage of the influx of immigrants to extract concessions from the United States and secure his rule.

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Fortunately, Trump is starting to turn things around. In addition to targeted attacks on drug traffickers and a military buildup in the Caribbean, the new administration canceled oil concessions granted under Biden, imposed secondary tariffs on countries buying oil from Venezuela, doubled the reward for the arrest of Maduro as leader of the Cartel de los Soles, and went after Tren de Aragua. As Venezuela strategy continues to coalesce around a more confrontational approach, a few key principles should guide us.

The United States must be clear that Maduro is illegitimate and lend our support to the democratic opposition movement led by Maria Corina Machado. Maduro stayed in power by stealing not one but two elections and has no popular legitimacy. True democratic reform, while by no means easy to achieve, is the only way Venezuela can set itself up for success in the future and become a source of prosperity and partnership rather than violence and instability.

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Moreover, we must understand that no compromise is possible with the Maduro regime, which threatens core American interests by destabilizing the entire region and exporting cross-border crimes to our shores. Accordingly, our strategy must use every available pressure point, including sanctions and kinetic actions where appropriate, to constrain the Venezuelan government’s ability to conduct business as usual.

Finally, we must remember that America’s enemies want nothing more than for the United States to withdraw from relations in Latin America and elsewhere. While the collapse of Venezuela has caused even staunch allies like China and Russia to step back, any stabilization of the Maduro regime would invite the re-emergence of the world’s worst actors and create an unacceptable threat extremely close to our borders.

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Lifting or easing sanctions gave the regime a lifeline and emboldened Maduro to steal another election in 2024.

As President Trump’s new National Security Strategy suggests, it is long past time for us to reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to protect American interests in the Western Hemisphere and prevent our adversaries from gaining the ability to create power in America.

The collapse of Venezuela is another example of socialism’s inevitable endpoint: autocracy, economic disaster, and increasing instability. The longer the Maduro regime remains in office, the worse the situation will become for Venezuelans, neighboring countries in Latin America, and the entire Western Hemisphere. Our strategy should reflect this understanding and empower the administration to use every tool available to protect and advance American interests.

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