"The interview made headlines in December, where Donald Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles said her boss "wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle" an Americanism referring to a plea for mercy. That was a reference to a months-long campaign by the US to destroy purported Venezuelan drug boats in the Caribbean. Early on, it seemed as though drugs were squarely in Trump's sights."
"He has long-sought to shutter the US to drug-runners, and this week declared fentanyl, a target of both his presidential terms, a weapon of mass destruction. It had also been suggested that the attacks were a pretext for strong-arming more resources oil and rare earths from Venezuelan hands. Trump has now ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers. But Wiles' interview has shifted the view, or at least diminished speculation on the administration's intentions."
Airstrikes on Caracas on January 3 intensified speculation that the United States aims to remove Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro by force. Susie Wiles said President Trump "wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle," referencing a campaign to destroy alleged Venezuelan drug boats in the Caribbean. Trump declared fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction, emphasized anti-drug measures, and ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers. Paul Hare, a retired UK diplomat, said initial US aims may have focused on deportation deals and oil concessions that could have allowed Maduro to remain in power. Toppling Maduro was viewed as an easier geopolitical objective than Ukraine or Gaza.
Read at www.dw.com
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