{"id":157527,"date":"2020-04-06T12:00:14","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T11:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=157527"},"modified":"2020-04-06T17:49:54","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T16:49:54","slug":"not-letting-covid-19-crisis-go-to-waste-us-ramps-up-war-on-drugs-focusing-on-venezuelas-maduro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/04\/not-letting-covid-19-crisis-go-to-waste-us-ramps-up-war-on-drugs-focusing-on-venezuelas-maduro\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Letting Covid-19 Crisis Go to Waste? US Ramps up War on Drugs\u2026 Focusing on Venezuela\u2019s Maduro"},"content":{"rendered":"
1 Apr 2020 – <\/em>US President Donald Trump has announced a massive naval deployment in the Caribbean<\/a> to prevent drug cartels from \u2018exploiting\u2019 the Covid-19 pandemic, with the military singling out Venezuela as a major threat to America.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe must not let the drug cartels exploit the pandemic to threaten American lives,\u201d<\/em> Trump said at the outset of what was scheduled to be a daily Covid-19 task force press conference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Raising the specter of a national security threat, the US military officials warned Americans of a growing menace from \u201ccriminals, terrorists and other malign actors,\u201d<\/em> but called out only Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by name.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe Venezuelan people continue to suffer tremendously due to Maduro and his criminal control over the country, and drug traffickers are seizing on this lawlessness,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0said Defense Secretary Mark Esper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Also:<\/span> Hard pass on the Noriega remix? US narcotrafficking charges against Maduro straight out of Panama playbook<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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Also present for the announcement was General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who declared three wars in a single breath \u2013 on the coronavirus pandemic, terrorists and drug cartels \u2013 distracting from the fast-accelerating health crisis gripping the country.<\/p>\n

Attorney General William Barr was on hand as well, to announce the action. The Department of Justice indicted Maduro on \u201cnarco-terrorism\u201d<\/em> charges last week, accusing the socialist leader of conspiring with Colombian militants to \u201cflood\u201d<\/em> the United States with cocaine. Apparently short on evidence, however, the State Department on the same day issued a $15 million reward for any \u201cinformation related to\u201d<\/em> the Venezuelan president.<\/p>\n

In addition to Maduro, the US\u00a0accused 14 other current and former Venezuelan officials for their alleged roles in the drug trafficking conspiracy, though Washington has yet to offer up evidence to support any of the charges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Narco Rubio admits the \u201cwar on drugs\u201d is a cheap cover for US interventionism and stealing resources. <\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t have much to say about the cartels that enriched his ex-con cocaine cowboy brother-in-law Orlando Cicilia, or the US-backed Colombian government they control. https:\/\/t.co\/ETIeGEJTcK<\/a><\/p>\n

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) April 1, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n