THE GUARDIAN — EDITORIAL: The strike on a speedboat allegedly containing Venezuelan drug traffickers may be performative, but sets a frightening precedent
More than five decades ago, Richard Nixon launched a “war on drugs”. The drugs won. Now Donald Trump is turning a failed metaphor into a worse reality.
On Tuesday the US president claimed that the military had killed 11 drug traffickers from Venezuela, posting footage of the strike that US officials said took place on a speedboat in international waters in the Caribbean. The administration supplied no evidence for its claim that the boat contained Tren de Aragua members, or drugs, and gave varying accounts of its destination. It also warned that there was more to come, with the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, arguing that intercepting boats had not curbed the drugs problem: “What will stop them is when you blow them up.” Earlier this year, Mr Trump secretly ordered the use of military force against cartels internationally.
With US warships patrolling the coast of Venezuela – and F35 fighter jets reportedly dispatched to Puerto Rico – some fear that this could be pretext for a disastrous intervention, as its president, Nicolás Maduro, has suggested. Alternatively, Washington may hope it unnerves other regime members into unseating him, or prompts Mr Maduro himself to flee – two longstanding dreams. The US has already offered a $50m bounty for his arrest. At best, this may be political theatre, with both Mr Maduro and Mr Trump posturing for their bases.
If this campaign truly targets the drugs trade, it is dangerous and misguided. Like rebranding the Department of Defense as the “Department of War”, it speaks to Mr Trump’s love of macho spectacle. But it sets a precedent for launching military strikes on whomever the US authorities wish, without congressional approval or a UN mandate, simply by declaring that they are “at war”. » | Editorial | Sunday, September 7, 2025
Trump’s killing of 11 alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers sets a dangerous precedent: Unless this dangerous precedent is condemned and curtailed, it will enable US authorities to summarily shoot anyone they choose »
