"The indictment came after years of threats toward Maduro from the U.S., including a dramatic U.S. military buildup over the past five months and a string of extrajudicial killings by sinking dozens of small boats that the Trump administration claimed, without evidence, were ferrying drugs. Policy experts and Democrats condemned the strikes as illegal and ineffective, but the administration ignored Congress and continued blowing up speedboats, leaving at least 115 people dead so far."
"the White House methodically posted videos of the boat strikes as viral propaganda for a sudden escalation of the deeply unpopular "war on drugs." Donald Trump has fused that war together with the "war on terror" throughout the first year of his second term. He designated drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and directed the military to go after them, including through the boat strikes, and went so far as to declare fentanyl as a " weapon of mass destruction.""
"That fusion came to a head on January 3 when, on orders from Trump and without authorization from Congress, U.S. forces invaded Venezuela to abduct Maduro in a midnight raid that reportedly claimed up to 80 lives, including civilians. Indicted for alleged connections to cocaine smugglers, Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and "narco-terrorism" charges"
U.S. forces carried out a months-long military buildup and repeatedly sank dozens of small boats, claiming without evidence they were ferrying drugs and killing at least 115 people. The White House amplified boat-strike videos as viral propaganda while aides shared violent memes defending the attacks. The administration designated drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and labeled fentanyl a 'weapon of mass destruction,' a move criticized by public-health experts and compared to prewar rhetoric about Iraq. On January 3, U.S. forces invaded Venezuela without congressional authorization to seize President Nicolás Maduro, a raid that reportedly killed up to 80 people. Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty to indictment charges including cocaine trafficking and 'narco-terrorism.'
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