The United States launched a major anti-drug operation in the Western Hemisphere. Besides drug cartels, its goal will be the Venezuelan President. Washington’s political analyst Dmitry Zhuravlev commented on Washington’s plans.
The US is launching an anti-drug operation in the Western Hemisphere so that the cartels cannot take advantage of the situation in the light of the coronavirus, said the US President Donald Trump.
“We should not give drug cartels the opportunity to use the pandemic to threaten the lives of the Americans”, – the reporters quoted him as saying.
According to Trump, for this additional ships, planes and helicopters will be placed there.
“In partnership with 22 countries, the Southern Command will expand the intelligence, interception and seizure of drug supplies”, – the US president said.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the US Navy ships would appear next to Venezuela to put pressure on its President and his allies. And the head of the Pentagon, Mark Esper, said that the purpose of the anti-drug operation, in addition to drug cartels, will be the government of Nicolas Maduro.
As Esper said at a briefing, the “corrupt individuals of the government”, to whom he referred Maduro himself, allegedly “rely on profits from the sale of drugs in order to maintain their repressive power.”
Director General of the Institute for Regional Problems, Ph.D. in Political Sciences Dmitry Zhuravlev commented on the actions of the United States.
“Of course, the United States will take advantage of the situation. Because Venezuela is a problem for the United States. And if it will be possible to get rid of Maduro before the elections, then it’s a win for Trump. Americans like to play on foreign policy. Besides, oil is now a headache for the United States, because in this sense they have economic schizophrenia: as consumers they want low prices, and as producers they want high prices, and therefore control over Venezuelan oil is very important for them. And finally, coronavirus hit a lot of different connections, contacts, transport networks of the world. And thus, sharply activated the drug business, which dramatically increased activity. In these conditions, I think that the Americans are simply afraid that they will be flooded with drugs – not the fact that with Venezuelan ones (this is a purely political issue), but Latin American ones”, – Dmitry Zhuravlev said.
The US Department of Justice previously released charges against Maduro and another 14 Venezuelan politicians, claiming that they were involved in drug trafficking. The Department of State has announced a $ 15 million reward for Maduro. Attorney General William Barr recalled that the United States did not consider Maduro the President of Venezuela, and compared him to the former leader of Panama, Manuel Noriega, whom the Americans overthrew in 1989 as a result of a military invasion after similar drug trafficking allegations.