US: Columbia and Venezuela in its crosshairs
The US has already carried out several strikes against boats belonging to suspected drug smugglers in international waters in the Caribbean, killing the crew in the process. Now the world's largest aircraft carrier, U.S.S. Gerald Ford, is to be deployed to the region as military reinforcement. US President Donald Trump had accused both Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and Colombian President Gustavo Petro of being involved in drug trafficking.
Replacing international law with force
The Frankfurter Rundschau sees the US acting in blatant violation of international law:
“Washington is using the same legal basis that US President George W. Bush invoked after 11 September 2001. The country considers itself authorised to use lethal force to avert a threat to the US. But not only legal experts stress that international law prohibits the deliberate killing of civilians, even in the context of armed conflicts. The common term for this is murder. This is because the US administration has not proven that the US is engaged in an armed conflict with the cartels, nor has Washington argued that it is subject to martial law. The reality is that the US is replacing international law with force.”
Trump uniting Latin America against the Yankees
Trump is provoking a major conflict, warns columnist Guy Sorman in ABC:
“The US president has claimed without evidence that the Venezuelan president is the head of a vast drug network that harms US citizens. ... In addition to military threats, the US is interfering in the domestic politics of several countries on the continent: Venezuela and Colombia, Brazil and Argentina. ... Everything points to a negative outcome, and not in Trump's favour. ... Has Trump heard of Yankee imperialism and the national pride of every single Latin American country? Not only is he fuelling pointless wars, he is ensuring that the Latin American continent and US citizens of Latin American origin unite against this new imperialism.”
Drop in oil prices would hit Russia hard
Political scientist Serhiy Taran explains in a Telegram post picked up by Espreso that via Venezuela Trump can influence oil prices and by extension Russia's willingness to end the war in Ukraine:
“If the US were to topple Maduro, Trump would have every reason to lift the sanctions on Venezuelan oil - and the global market price would drop accordingly. In recent weeks, Trump has been repeating the theory that [a lower] oil price could persuade Putin to take peace negotiations seriously. And a few weeks ago there were even media reports that India had asked Trump to lift the sanctions on Venezuelan oil to open up a good alternative to Russian oil.”