Everyone is wondering “What is Trump’s intention regarding Venezuela?”
Obviously, this isn’t about protecting Americans from drugs. First of all, the US Coast Guard for decades has been successfully and lawfully interdicting boats suspected of transporting illicit drugs into the US; we don’t need to be murdering mariners on the open seas with no evidence of wrong-doing. And if Trump were really interested in reducing the inflow of illicit drugs, he wouldn’t have pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. Hernández was convicted in US federal court in March 2024 on charges of conspiring to import into the USA hundreds of tons of cocaine and related weapons charges. He was sentenced to 45 years in US federal prison. Trump issued a full and complete pardon to Hernández on December 1, 2025 and he was released. The government of Honduras has subsequently issued its own warrant for his arrest on their own charges.
Is this about regime change? While President Meduro’s government may be a repressive, authoritarian administration, the US has no standing to unilaterally try to topple his government. In fact, doing so on the grounds that Meduro has over-stayed his welcome by declaring, contrary to widespread evidence and belief, that he soundly won the last presidential election held on July 28, 2024, Trump is opening the door to the international community to interfere in our own 2028 election when Trump ties to pull a similar stunt.
No…all these extra-legal (meaning “illegal”) killings (murders) in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific are not about Venezuela at all. Rather, together with illegal activations of the National Guard to “patrol” American cities contrary to any local need or request—this is really about Trump stress-testing individuals within the military to identify the people that he can count on to carry out actions against the American people during the next elections. It is well known that criminal organizations recruit new members by positioning them in compromising situations to “dirty them up” so that they have to choose between going along or facing the music. (For example, Bloods and Crips gangs require recruits to commit a random, gratuitous murder before they become trusted and accepted as full members.) One can only wonder what went on behind the scenes when all the US military leaders were summoned to abandon their stations from around the world to be lectured on September 30 in Quantico by Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump.
So, when six federal lawmakers with career backgrounds in military and intelligence released an advertisement quoting the military manual articles that require military personnel at every level to disregard illegal orders…of course Hegseth and Trump went into convulsions. Honest leaders would welcome every reminder that helps to maintain the honor snd integrity of our military personnel.
We can all see coming the calamity of violence in our elections. With a subservient Justice Department, legislative branch, and Supreme Court, how do the People defend against this? Who will defend the Capitol from the next January 6 assault when the aggressors are the National Guard? The 2026 Congressional elections may not come soon enough to ensure that they are free and fair.