President Donald Trump has suggested that United States forces could soon be on the ground in Venezuela. The U.S. ruling class could quickly escalate a brewing conflict from sea to land operations, expanding what the ruler has called “a war on terrorist drug cartels.”

While speaking at a Navy anniversary ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia, Trump said American forces had struck another vessel off Venezuela’s coast, allegedly carrying narcotics. “In recent weeks, the Navy has supported our mission to blow the cartel terrorists the hell out of the water … we did another one last night. Now we just can’t find any,” he said. “They’re not coming in by sea anymore, so now we’ll have to start looking about the land because they’ll be forced to go by land.”

At the same time, Trump is militarizing law enforcement and creating standing armies within the U.S. California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused Trump of “weaponizing our military on American soil,” citing previous deployments in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. “He’s specifically targeting cities that lean Democratic,” Bonta said, according to a report by RT. “It’s pure political weaponization.”

Trump is currently branding members of drug cartels as “unlawful combatants,” a label which he said allows the U.S. to use military force without congressional approval. So far, the U.S. has sunk four civilian boats, committing war crimes, and desecrated due process. It is not an “over exaggeration” to call what the ruling class is doing “war crimes.”

U.S. Strikes A 4th Venezuelan Boat, Committing More War Crimes

As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put it, stability in the Caribbean is critical to the security of the United States and the continent. The region, long treated as America’s moat, is once again becoming a forward line of defense – not against narcotics, but against influence from China, Russia, and any state bold enough to resist.

Threatening boots on “land” in Venezuela is a sharp escalation of the already tense situation.

Former UN drug chief Pino Arlacchi said that the “narco-state” Trump is concocting in his mind and propagating doesn’t really exist. “Venezuela’s cooperation in anti-drug operations has been among the most consistent in South America – comparable only to Cuba. The narco-state narrative is geopolitical fiction,” Arlacchi said. 

In the end, the “narco-state” myth says less about Venezuela than it does about America’s need for enemies. When ideology and diplomacy fail, morality becomes the most convenient weapon. –RT

The slide down the slippery slope continues. The illusion is falling away. What’s next?