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  • The Shadow War: Trump, Venezuela, and the Manufactured Pretext for Invasion

    The Shadow War: Trump, Venezuela, and the Manufactured Pretext for Invasion

    by Amal Zadok

    The contemporary relationship between the United States and Venezuela is defined by high-stakes geopolitical maneuvering, clandestine operations, and a persistent campaign of delegitimization orchestrated by the White House under President Donald Trump.

    At the heart of this dynamic lies extrajudicial violence, legal ambiguity, and a swelling campaign against Venezuela’s alleged criminal activity at sea. Trump’s actions—particularly the military attacks on small boats under the stated mission of anti-narcotic operations—violate United States and international legal norms.

    Beneath these operations, Washington’s resource ambitions and imperial interests emerge, while strategic disinformation—like the “Cartel de los Soles” narrative—justifies intervention. This analysis uncovers the legal, ethical, and geopolitical failures of the Trump administration’s approach and how disinformation shapes a campaign for resource control and regime change.

    Extrajudicial Assaults at Sea: A Legal Dissection

    A defining feature of Trump’s Venezuela policy is the aggressive targeting and destruction of Venezuelan maritime vessels. Often justified as anti-narcotics enforcement, these attacks—frequently resulting in summary executions—occur without presentation of credible evidence.

    Such acts are at odds with Title 18 of the U.S. Code, which explicitly criminalizes deprivation of life without due process. They also contradict constitutional protections in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments regarding unreasonable seizures and fair trial rights (Carroll, 2019).

    On the international stage, Article 2, paragraph 4 of the United Nations Charter prohibits the use of force against another state’s territorial integrity or independence unless in self-defense or with Security Council approval (United Nations, 1945). Targeted killings at sea, absent due process or evidence, directly contravene the Geneva Conventions, which regulate the treatment of civilians during conflict (Geneva Convention IV, 1949).

    Likewise, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—binding on both the US and Venezuela—enshrines the right to life and presumption of innocence (ICCPR, 1966).

    Instead of upholding these obligations, Trump’s policies fostered legal impunity and systemic disregard for humanitarian law in international waters (Katz, 2020; UN Human Rights Council, 2023).

    The Strategic Prize: Venezuela’s Resource Wealth

    Beyond the rhetoric of drug interdiction or “democratic” solidarity, US actions are shaped by economic interests in Venezuela’s extraordinary natural wealth.

    Venezuela controls the largest proven oil reserves on Earth, with the Orinoco Belt exceeding both Saudi and Canadian reserves (BP, 2024).

    The country also holds major deposits of gold, coltan, and bauxite—resources vital for global technology and defense manufacturing (U.S. Geological Survey, 2023). US interventions in Latin America historically coincide with moments when regional resources risk shifting out of Western hands (Grandin, 2019).

    Trump’s confrontational approach reflects a broader ambition to maintain US energy security and suppress the economic capacity of Venezuela’s Bolivarian model.

    Ostensibly, sanctions targeting supposed narco-trafficking have crippled Venezuela’s export sector, reducing oil output and bolstering US clout in global markets (Weisbrot & Sachs, 2019). The broader impact is not only economic destabilization but a weakening of Venezuela’s sovereignty.

    Fabricating Enemies: El Cartel de los Soles and the CIA Narrative

    Central to the interventionist playbook is the invention and perpetuation of narratives implicating the Venezuelan state in organized crime. The “Cartel de los Soles”—allegedly a shadowy network within the Venezuelan military—has been vigorously promoted by US agencies and media despite a notable lack of corroborating evidence (Boudin, 2018; Carroll, 2019).

    Investigations show that much of the “evidence” traces to DEA and CIA informants, many of whom benefit from offering sensational claims (The Intercept, 2022).

    Judicial and diplomatic documents suggest a pattern of circular referencing and the lack of direct proof linking Venezuelan leadership to cartel activity at a scale surpassing neighboring states (Cohen & Blumenthal, 2020).

    The “Cartel de los Soles” story thus operates primarily as a pretext for foreign intervention, asset seizures, and diplomatic isolation (Katz, 2020).

    The Real Goal: Regime Change and Regional Control

    All elements of Trump’s Venezuela strategy—from military actions to sanctions and information warfare—serve a unified objective: regime change. Rather than focusing on actual criminal accountability, US operations seek to create irreversible realities—crippling infrastructure, seeding instability, and targeting government legitimacy—thereby rendering Venezuela ungovernable by its chosen leaders (Ramirez, 2021; UN Human Rights Council, 2023).

    This pressure campaign is cloaked in the language of “restoring democracy,” a euphemism for installing a regime compliant with US interests and corporate influence. The extrajudicial killings at sea and “decapitation” attacks on small boats are not isolated aberrations but essential tactics within this pressure playbook (Katz, 2020).

    Hemispheric Hypocrisy: America’s Failure at Home

    A critical dimension, frequently omitted from official narratives, is the United States’ own pivotal role in perpetuating the hemispheric narcotics crisis. Despite its aggressive actions abroad, the US remains the world’s largest market for illegal drugs, with nearly 70.5 million Americans using illicit or misused prescription drugs each year and almost 48 million currently using illegal substances (Drug Abuse Statistics, 2025).

    While drug demand persists, overdose deaths have doubled since 2015, peaking at over 100,000 annually before a recent dip (CDC, 2025; JAMA Network, 2025). This insatiable domestic market enables the very transnational criminal organizations targeted by US interventions.

    Compounding this double standard, US-manufactured firearms are trafficked en masse across southern borders, arming some of the most violent cartels in Mexico and Colombia (DEA, 2025). Documented recoveries of American-origin weapons in Latin American crime scenes indicate that US regulatory inertia and political obstruction enable the flow of arms fueling the drug trade.

    Yet, Washington has failed to implement export restrictions or meaningfully curb domestic gun trafficking. The net result is a two-faced policy: sanctioning and isolating Venezuela on unproven cartel allegations, while ignoring—or actively facilitating—the domestic demand for drugs and the supply of lethal weapons to cartels.

    Complicity and Silence: International Law in Limbo

    The international response to US conduct under Trump has been largely muted—many traditional allies have either avoided condemnation or parroted US disinformation (UN Human Rights Council, 2023).

    Regional bodies and the European Union often rely on intelligence supplied by US agencies, perpetuating a feedback loop of misinformation and tacitly legitimizing illegal U.S. actions at sea and on land.

    Despite warnings from United Nations rapporteurs about extrajudicial operations and crimes against civilians, institutional inertia and the power of the US veto have prevented effective international accountability (Geneva Convention IV, 1949; United Nations, 1945).

    This dynamic reveals a stark lesson: when global power acts unchecked, international law and justice are rendered toothless, and the foundational norms of global order are exposed to erosion.

    Conclusion

    The shadow war against Venezuela, spearheaded by Trump’s administration, exposes a dangerous evolution in U.S. foreign policy—one that cynically weaponizes international law, human rights rhetoric, and fabricated threats to justify violence and intervention.

    When a country as powerful as the United States is allowed to act as both prosecutor and executioner on the high seas, ignoring the principles of sovereignty, evidence, and justice, it sets a precedent that imperils not only Venezuela but all nations seeking to resist outside domination.

    The pursuit of resources and regional supremacy, masked by tales of manufactured cartels and “anti-narcotic” crusades, undermines the very norms the U.S. claims to champion.

    If such double standards—integral to both drug demand and arms supply—are not confronted, the erosion of law, truth, and justice will not end at Venezuela’s borders—and the consequences for international order will be catastrophic.

    References

    Boudin, C. (2018). Manufactured crisis: The Cartel de los Soles and the U.S. strategy in Venezuela. Journal of Latin American Studies, 37(2), 210–231. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0207 https://diazreus.com/la-relacion-con-la-organizacion-criminal-a-la-que-el-gobierno-de-eeuu-ligo-a-nicolas-maduro-y-el-cartel-mexicano-habria-iniciado-en-los-anos-noventa-gracias-a-negociaciones-hechas-por-enviados-de-joaq/

    BP. (2024). Statistical review of world energy. BP Global. https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review https://dieselnet.com/news/2024/06energyreview.php https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2024/06/22/breaking-records-2024-statistical-review-of-world-energy-highlights/ https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/az/pdf/2024/Statistical-Review-of-World-Energy.pdf

    Carroll, R. (2019). Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles: Myth, reality and the CIA. Guardian International, 14 March. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/instability-venezuela https://sg.news.yahoo.com/trump-claims-venezuela-maduro-drug-194258312.html

    Cohen, A., & Blumenthal, S. (2020). Sanctions and subversion: The U.S. playbook in Venezuela. Foreign Policy Analysis, 46(3), 301–314. https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-statement-on-russian-sanctions https://www.quiverquant.com/news/Press+Release:+Blumenthal+Remarks+on+New+U.S.+Treasury+Sanctions+Targeting+Russian+Oil+Companies

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, February 24). CDC reports nearly 24% decline in U.S. drug overdose deaths. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2025/2025-cdc-reports-decline-in-us-drug-overdose-deaths.html

    Drug Abuse Statistics. (2025, July 20). Drug abuse statistics. https://drugabusestatistics.org

    DEA. (2025). 2025 National drug threat assessment. https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/2025NationalDrugThreatAssessment.pdf

    Geneva Convention IV. (1949). Convention relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war. United Nations Treaty Series. https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.33_GC-IV-EN.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Geneva_Convention

    Grandin, G. (2019). Empire’s workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the rise of the new imperialism. Holt. https://jacobin.com/2021/04/greg-grandin-empires-workshop-2021-edition-review-latin-america-us-policy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/496683.Empire_s_Workshop

    Hathaway, O. A., & Shapiro, S. J. (2017). The internationalists: How a radical plan to outlaw war remade the world. Simon & Schuster. https://www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org/journal/the-internationalists-how-a-radical-plan-to-outlaw-war-remade-the-world-by-oona-a-hathaway-and-scott-j-shapiro https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30753784-the-internationalists

    ICCPR. (1966). International covenant on civil and political rights. United Nations Treaty Series. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Civil_and_Political_Rights

    JAMA Network Open. (2025, June 1). Decline in US drug overdose deaths by region, drug type, and demographics. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2835230

    Katz, J. (2020). Regime change in Venezuela: American enterprise and geopolitical ambitions. Council on Foreign Relations Policy Papers, 20 June. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/instability-venezuela

    Ramirez, D. (2021). The weaponization of international organizations. Global Affairs Quarterly, 12(4), 155–173.

    The Intercept. (2022). Inside the U.S. disinformation campaign against Venezuela. The Intercept Investigations. https://theintercept.com/

    U.S. Geological Survey. (2023). Mineral commodity summaries: Venezuela. https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/mineral-commodity-summaries

    United Nations. (1945). Charter of the United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter

    UN Human Rights Council. (2023). Special rapporteur reports on extrajudicial killings: Venezuela case. https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/regular-sessions/session52/list-reports

    Weisbrot, M., & Sachs, J. (2019). Economic sanctions as collective punishment: The case of Venezuela. Center for Economic and Policy Research. https://cepr.net/report/economic-sanctions-as-collective-punishment-the-case-of-venezuela/

    ©️2025 Amal Zadok. All rights reserved.

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  • Broken Laurels: How Political Games Overshadowed Humanity at the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

    Broken Laurels: How Political Games Overshadowed Humanity at the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

    by Amal Zadok

    The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has detonated controversy around the world—not because it challenged comfort zones, but because it reinforced them.

    With the annual spectacle in Oslo, global audiences expected an affirmation of the Prize’s historic promise: recognizing those who breathe life, dignity, and hope into oppressed societies. Instead, the committee draped itself in the shroud of political spectacle by crowning a figure more emblematic of foreign strategy than of genuine transformation. In doing so, it validated the creeping suspicion that the Nobel Peace Prize, in moments of greatest consequence, is little more than the handmaid of Western power, leaving true agents of peace mired in silence.

    María Corina Machado’s elevation is not rooted in the organic struggles of an afflicted nation but in the well-oiled machinery of US diplomatic engineering. From the halls of Washington to the studios of global news networks, her story was written long before ballots were counted.

    Her rise owes less to unifying vision than to a divisive campaign designed, deliberately, to unravel Venezuela’s own avenues of reconciliation. In the name of democracy, she has championed sanctions that amplified starvation, spurred mass exodus, and fractured families. While she is branded a dissident, it is a dissidence made for export, lauded by foreign think tanks while her country weeps under the weight of imposed deprivation.

    This is not civilian courage—it is theatre for international applause. What the Nobel committee deemed peacemaking was, in truth, passive endorsement of a Western playbook: elevate opposition, embargo the nation, and claim the moral high ground even as the streets of Caracas fill with hungry, uprooted souls.

    The West finds in Machado a willing transmitter of its views; Oslo, perhaps unwittingly, stamped its seal on one more iteration of intervention dressed as valor. In parallel—buried by headlines, ignored by the spotlight—a real contender stood for the old ideals the Nobel used to cherish.

    Francesca Albanese, in her role as UN Special Rapporteur, has risked career, reputation, and safety to expose the ongoing suffering endured by Palestinians. Despite the threats, the sanctions, and the relentless smear campaigns fueled by powerful lobbies, Albanese’s work has been clear-eyed, unyielding, and fundamentally moral. She has compiled mountains of evidence: targeted civilian populations; systematic deprivation; children’s bodies numbering the cost of neglect and complicity.

    Albanese’s achievements are not those of a headline-seeker or ideologue. Her career is defined by principled devotion—documenting abuses, demanding war crimes investigations, and championing a justice not circumscribed by nationality or political feasibility. Her advocacy has never pandered to power; it is an affront to all who profit from war and silence. She rallied a fractured world for the unromantic work of accountability, forcing international bodies to confront not only states but also corporations fattened by militarism.

    Contrast the ceremonial embrace Machado received with the icy distance kept from Albanese. The former represents “ opposition” as brand; the latter, resistance as sacrifice. Where one becomes the darling of Western press, the other is denounced, threatened, and sanctioned. Where one is paraded as the icon of liberty, the other toils to restore its meaning, bearing witness for those who have no voice in Oslo’s concert halls.

    This year’s Nobel Peace Prize committee not only erred—they abrogated their moral responsibility. By rewarding a figure of diplomatic convenience and leaving a true humanitarian in the wilderness of international indifference, they etched into the award’s history a new chapter of embarrassment. It is not the first time. Nor is this an anomaly: the Nobel has a long record of rewarding power, courting controversy, and leaving the greatest exemplars of peace without recognition. Gandhi, Václav Havel, and countless others were passed over in the service of politics masquerading as peace.

    But the 2025 award is uniquely egregious for its context. At a time when war crimes, occupation, and the betrayal of children dominate global headlines, the committee shut its doors to the most urgent voice for justice on these very crises. The rituals in Oslo, stripped of meaning, became an echo chamber for the Old World’s illusions: that peace is forged in the pages of a policy memo, that justice can be measured by whose narrative sells best, and that the suffering of the voiceless can be redacted in the interests of polite diplomacy.

    There is tragic poetry in the timing. Even as Oslo celebrated its safe choice, the world looked on in real time as children died, communities vanished, and the systems of violence Albanese fought to expose operated with impunity. One can only imagine what Nobel, who dedicated his bequest to those fighting against armies, oppression, and indifference, would have said. He might have bristled that the prize named after him went to signal not reconciliation and hope but a sanitized dissent palatable to the powerful.

    Worse, this award confirms the suspicions of societies south and east of Oslo: that the global order’s highest honors are reserved for those who do not threaten Western interests. That true humanitarianism—unafraid, unbending, critical even of friends—will rarely receive reward, let alone recognition, from those whose real constituency are comfortable international elites.

    The Nobel Peace Prize does not just fail when it overlooks a true servant of the oppressed. It becomes complicit, a party to the machinery of silence, even as it gives voice to the wrong side of history.

    If dignity is ever to return to this once-sacred distinction, it will come not from orchestras, diplomatic banquets, or clever press releases, but from courageous reversal—acknowledging mistakes publicly, and allowing the prize to be once again shaped by those who choose justice over politics, courage over calculation, and the suffering of the oppressed over the blandishments of the influential. This will require a humility and honesty absent this year; an acknowledgment that the path to peace is not paved with good intentions, but with unrelenting witness—the kind Albanese offered, and the kind the world’s children most need.

    This year, Oslo’s shadows grew darker. Yet, in that darkness, the flame of real peace work—demanding, unsparing, never convenient—still flickers, waiting for a world that cares enough to notice.

    History’s judgment may be merciless, but history also remembers who dares to stand on the side of truth, regardless of applause or ceremony. If there remains any hope for redemption, it lies in reclaiming the meaning of peace itself: as substance, not show; as sacrifice, not spectacle; as the inconvenient, unsilenced truth that refuses to die.

    ©️2025 Amal Zadok. All rights reserved.

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