{"id":309194,"date":"2025-12-08T12:01:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=309194"},"modified":"2025-12-05T07:33:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T07:33:40","slug":"the-narco-trap-when-power-chooses-its-criminals-and-its-heroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/12\/the-narco-trap-when-power-chooses-its-criminals-and-its-heroes\/","title":{"rendered":"The Narco Trap: When Power Chooses Its Criminals and Its Heroes"},"content":{"rendered":"

3 Dec 2025\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0There are moments in geopolitics where reality becomes so absurd it feels like satire \u2014 and yet, it\u2019s official policy. The word \u201cnarcotrafficking\u201d<\/strong> has now become one of those magic labels politicians use not to describe crime, but to justify power plays, invasions, coups, and sanctions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past months, Donald Trump has repeated \u2014 with the confidence of a late-night televangelist \u2014 that Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro is linked to drug trafficking. According to him, Venezuela isn\u2019t just an oil-rich nation with the world\u2019s largest reserves \u2014 it\u2019s a cartel with a flag.<\/p>\n

Convenient timing, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, under this excuse flavored with political cocaine, Trump ordered the killing of 80 Venezuelan fishermen<\/strong> \u2014 no trial, no court, no Netflix documentary \u2014 nothing.<\/p>\n

Even if one of them had been a trafficker, last time we checked, humans (even guilty ones) get a trial.<\/p>\n

But Trump? Trump prefers pirate law. Not the cool Jack Sparrow kind \u2014 the petty colonial version.<\/p>\n

One thing remains true: Rights are not conditional. Justice isn\u2019t optional.<\/strong> Unless, of course, you\u2019re interpreting the law like a reality show host rewriting the rules mid-season.<\/p>\n

And here comes the twist \u2014 so sharp it could cut through propaganda:<\/p>\n

The narco figure Trump wants to pardon<\/em> is not Maduro. Not a guerrilla. Not a socialist. Not a fisherman.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hern\u00e1ndez in Trump\u00b4s embrace…<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez<\/strong>, former president of Honduras \u2014 a man who wasn\u2019t merely suspected<\/em> of drug trafficking, but convicted in U.S. courts<\/strong> for protecting a massive cocaine route into the United States.<\/p>\n

Sentence: 45 years.<\/strong> Status under Trump: Potential pardon.<\/strong> You could almost hear the drumroll if it weren\u2019t so tragic.<\/p>\n

So why pardon a convicted narco? Because in U.S. foreign policy, being a drug trafficker is not the problem. Being independent is.<\/p>\n

Honduras has long operated as a strategic base<\/strong> for Washington \u2014 especially since neighboring Nicaragua dared to overthrow a U.S.-backed dictatorship in the 1980s and continues resisting U.S. influence to this day.<\/p>\n

And this isn\u2019t an isolated chapter. In 2009, the CIA and Obama administration supported a coup removing Honduran president Manuel Zelaya \u2014 whose greatest crime wasn\u2019t cocaine, but autonomy.<\/p>\n

The pattern is clear: If you obey Washington, you can traffic cocaine and still pose smiling for diplomatic handshakes. If you resist, you become a narco-dictator overnight. Headlines included. Sanctions extra.<\/p>\n

The broader project: a continental reconstruction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump is working to assemble a far-right bloc<\/strong> across Latin America: Milei in Argentina, Bolsonaro in Brazil, compliant oligarchies in Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras<\/p>\n

And The goal is to crush left movements, open resources to U.S. corporations, and reestablish Latin America as a geopolitical plantation \u2014 just with better public relations.<\/p>\n

In this framework, pardoning Hern\u00e1ndez isn\u2019t an anomaly \u2014 it\u2019s a signal<\/strong>. A loud one. it declares:<\/p>\n

\u201cCrimes don\u2019t matter. Loyalty does.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what do we call this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hypocrisy? Yes. But it\u2019s more than that. It\u2019s a reversal of morality<\/strong>, where those who defend sovereignty are labeled criminals, while those who violate law \u2014 but obey foreign power \u2014 are elevated, pardoned, and protected.<\/p>\n

It shows us that the so-called War on Drugs<\/strong> was never about drugs \u2014 but about maintaining geopolitical obedience.<\/p>\n

And here is the uncomfortable truth: <\/strong>Sometimes, the biggest trafficker isn\u2019t the man being accused\u2026It\u2019s the one doing the accusing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So let us say it plainly, publicly, and loudly enough to break the narrative: Criminality cannot be selective, sovereignty is not a crime, Justice cannot depend on political convenience.<\/p>\n

History may be slow, but it is watching \u2014 and it has an excellent memory.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s make sure it records the truth, not the propaganda.<\/p>\n

____________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ra\u00efs Neza Boneza is the author of fiction as well as non-fiction, poetry books and articles. He was born in the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Former Za\u00efre). He is also an activist and peace practitioner. Ra\u00efs is a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Media Service<\/em><\/a> Editorial Committee and a convener of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/em><\/a> for Central and African Great Lakes. He uses his work to promote artistic expressions as a means to deal with conflicts and maintaining mental wellbeing, spiritual growth and healing. Ra\u00efs has travelled extensively in Africa and around the world as a lecturer, educator and consultant for various NGOs and institutions. His work is premised on art, healing, solidarity, peace, conflict transformation and human dignity issues and works also as freelance journalist. You can reach him at <\/em>rais.boneza@gmail.com<\/em><\/a> – <\/em>http:\/\/www.raisnezaboneza.no<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 substack.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3 Dec 2025\u00a0–\u00a0There are moments in geopolitics where reality becomes so absurd it feels like satire \u2014 and yet, it\u2019s official policy. The word \u201cnarcotrafficking\u201d has now become one of those magic labels politicians use not to describe crime, but to justify power plays, invasions, coups, and sanctions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":309196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[867,417,1661,393,1126,1635,1050,541,559,2669,3743,3324,2571,1190,1639,2159,2137,249,70,557],"class_list":["post-309194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members","tag-anglo-america","tag-bullying","tag-colombia","tag-coup","tag-hegemony","tag-honduras","tag-imperialism","tag-latin-america-caribbean","tag-maduro","tag-narco-state","tag-narcotraffic","tag-north-america","tag-official-lies-and-narratives","tag-regime-change","tag-right-politics","tag-rogue-states","tag-south-america","tag-trump","tag-usa","tag-venezuela"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309194"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309197,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309194\/revisions\/309197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}