November 9, 2025 • 29 mins
The Trump administration says it’s fighting cartels.
In reality, it’s conducting extrajudicial killings in international waters — a campaign that echoes some of the darkest chapters in modern history.
This episode follows the story from secret legal memos to bodies in the Caribbean, connecting the dots between America’s new war on drugs, its vanishing checks on power, and a dangerous slide toward impunity.
Check out my substack page where I tackle some of the episode topics in depth and write about other issues our country and the world are facing today. https://substack.com/@ktdpodcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I don't think we're gonnanecessarily ask for a
declaration of war.
I think we're just gonna killpeople that are bringing drugs
into our country.
Okay?
We're gonna kill them, you know?
They're gonna be like dead.
Okay.
That was the president back onOctober 23rd, not making a
hypothetical statement orspeaking in hyperbole.
(00:21):
He was making a statement ofpolicy and he meant every word
of it.
Since early September, the USmilitary has carried out at
least 17 strikes on boats in theCaribbean and the Eastern
Pacific Ocean.
18 boats destroyed and at least70 people dead.
Only two known survivors, andwe'll get to what happened to
(00:43):
them in a bit.
This isn't a counter-narcoticsoperation in any traditional
sense.
There are no arrests, no trials,no due process.
The US military identifies aboat, decides it's carrying
drugs or that it's on a knowndrug trafficking route and
destroys it.
(01:04):
Everyone on board dies.
Usually.
The administration causes anarmed conflict with drug
cartels.
According to reporting by theNew York Times, they've issued a
classified legal opiniontreating suspected drug
traffickers as enemy combatantswho can be killed on sight.
The strikes happen ininternational waters, and as the
(01:26):
Washington Post has documented,congress has been kept largely
in the dark.
Here's what makes all of thiseven more startling.
The drug crisis was alreadyimproving before any of this
started.
So what's really happening here?
How did we get to a place wherethe United States is conducting
extra judicial killings in theCaribbean?
(01:46):
Is this legal?
Has America ever done anythinglike this before?
And maybe most importantly,someone else has done this
before.
Recently.
And that person is now facingprosecution for Crimes against
Humanity at the InternationalCriminal Court.
Before we get there though,let's start with what we know
(02:09):
about the operations themselves.
According to the US Navy, theUSS Gerald R.
Ford, the world's largest andmost advanced aircraft carrier
is in the Caribbean right now,along with its full strike
group, over 4,000 Marines andsailors.
Nuclear submarines, multiplewarships and F 35 fighter jets.
(02:33):
As CNN reported, this is thelargest US military presence in
Latin America in decades.
And what are they hunting?
Boats.
Not sophisticated smugglingoperations, not vessels with
major cartel leadership.
Based on the limited informationdefense Secretary Hegseth has
released on social media.
(02:55):
These look like small boatsoperated by low level
traffickers, mules, maybe evensubsistence fishermen who took
the wrong job.
Hegseth posts videos of thestrikes, boats exploding,
captions reading"narcotrafficking vessels eliminated"
"four male narco terroristskilled".
(03:16):
He's taken to calling theseattacks"lethal kinetic strikes".
Language built to sanitizewhat's happening.
To turn killing into anadministrative act.
But as Reuters and NBC havenoted, the administration offers
no real evidence about who thesepeople actually were.
No names, no verified cartelaffiliations after the fact,
(03:39):
just boats destroyed and bodiesin the water.
Here's how they're justifyingthis.
The drug traffickers are enemycombatants The US is in what
they call a"non-internationalarmed conflict with drug
cartels".
The same legal framing used forthe war on terror after nine 11.
(03:59):
Trump formerly notified Congresson October 1st that the US was
in this armed conflict withunlawful combatants in the
Caribbean.
CNN reported that the classifiedopinion lists 24 different
cartels and criminalorganizations the administration
claims authority to target.
But this is crucial.
(04:19):
In an early November briefing toCongress officials admitted they
don't really know who's actuallyon those boats before attacking
them.
Strikes are conducted based onintelligence leaking vessels to
cartels, not on knowing.
Who's on board?
Just think about that for asecond.
Our government is openlyacknowledging that it's killing
people without knowing who theyreally are.
(04:43):
Despite the secrecy, dedicatedreporters are starting to shed
light on who some of thesepeople were.
According to the AP reporter,Regina Garcia Cano traveled to
Venezuela's Northeastern coastto the villages where some of
these boats left from.
And in dozens of interviews, sheidentified some of the dead men.
(05:03):
A fisherman, a bus driver downon his luck.
A former military cadet,laborers, a motorcycle driver.
Only one was identified as alocal crime boss.
Most were on their first orsecond trip making$500 per run.
Families and neighborsconfirmed, yes, they were
running drugs, but they weren'tnarco terrorists, cartel leaders
(05:27):
or gang commanders.
They were poor men taking on adangerous job for desperately
needed money.
And now their families can'teven hold funerals because the
Venezuelan government won'tconfirm the deaths and might
punish them if they mournpublicly.
So basically our government iskilling the most vulnerable
(05:47):
people in the drug trade.
Those at the very bottom of thesupply chain who are poor,
desperate, and have no one todemand accountability for them.
And when someone actuallysurvives a strike, that's when
the legal framework completelyfalls apart.
On October 17th, Pentagonstatements say, US forces hit a
(06:08):
semi-submersible, what theycalled a"drug carrying
submarine" in the Caribbean.
Two people were killed, but twosurvived, and the administration
didn't know what to do withthem.
As CNN reported, the militarydetained them aboard a Navy
worship, while officialsscrambled to figure out the
legal authority for holdingthem.
If these are enemy combatants inan armed conflict, can they be
(06:30):
held as prisoners of war?
Do they get trials?
What are they charged with?
The governments solution.
Send them back.
Within days, both survivors, onefrom Ecuador, one from Columbia,
was repatriated to their homecountries.
Ecuador promptly released itscitizens stating there was no
evidence to charge'em with acrime.
(06:52):
Think about what that means.
The US blew up boat killed twopeople.
Almost killed two more.
And when one survivor got home,his own government said there's
no case here.
According to Reuters, militaryofficials involved in these
operations have been required tosign unusually strict
non-disclosure agreements.
(07:14):
Pentagon Judge AdvocateGenerals, or JAG's, told CNN
they had serious legal concernsabout the strikes, and then
found themselves cut outta thedecision making process.
Meanwhile, Congress is alsobeing frozen out.
Senator Mark Warner, a member ofthe Gang of eight, told CBS's
has faced a nation on September7th that he'd received no
(07:37):
briefing on the strikes, neitherhad the Senate Intelligence
Committee.
A bipartisan briefing scheduledfor September 5th, had been
abruptly canceled.
In late September and earlyOctober, as Hill reported, the
top Republican and Democrat onthe Senate Armed Services
Committee, Roger Wicker and JackReed, sent two letters to the
defense secretary asking basicquestions about the military
(07:59):
strikes.
Both went unanswered.
Then October 8th, senators AdamSchiff and Tim Kane introduced
the War Powers resolution torequire Congressional approval
for further strikes.
It failed.
Mainly along party lines.
51 to 48 with one senator,absent only two Republicans,
(08:21):
Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paulvoted in favor.
A few weeks later, hegsethescalated.
In mid-October.
An internal memo barred mostdefense department staff,
including commanders fromtalking to Congress without
prior approval.
He even created a specific listof topics requiring prior
(08:41):
coordination before anyengagement with lawmakers.
The Caribbean and Pacificstrikes are on that list.
When the administration finallyheld a briefing on the strikes
In late October, Democratsweren't invited, only
Republicans.
Senator Warner called this"indefensible and dangerous".
(09:01):
Then on November 1st, theJustice Department's top lawyer
told lawmakers the presidentdoesn't need their approval to
keep bombing boats because hesaid it doesn't legally count as
war.
In other words, Trump can keepkilling people indefinitely and
Congress has no say.
But still, Congress tried onemore time.
(09:24):
On November 6th, a second WarPowers resolution came to a
vote.
It failed 51 to 49 again withthe same two Republicans, Rand
Paul and Lisa Murkowski breakingranks.
That's twice now that mostRepublicans agreed with Trump
and his administration.
Congress doesn't need to beinvolved.
(09:44):
The killings can continue.
The legal community is alarmed.
In October, the A CLU and theCenter for Constitutional Rights
filed a request to obtain theJustice Department's classified
legal guidance on these strikes.
They argue the strikes areunlawful because those on board
are civilians, and no war hasbeen declared against these
(10:05):
alleged drug organizations.
The center's legal director putit bluntly:"in a constitutional
system, no president canarbitrarily choose to
assassinate individuals from thesky based on his whim or say,
so.
The Trump administration istaking its indiscriminate
pattern of lawlessness to alethal level." According to a
(10:27):
Pentagon announcement, admiralAlvin Holsey stepped down as
commander of US SouthernCommand, the command that
oversees these operations afterless than a year.
In the role.
The Pentagon gave no reason, butsources speaking to CNN
speculated, he was uncomfortablewith the policy of killing
civilians without judicialprocess.
(10:50):
So even inside the military, thepeople task to carry out these
orders know something isn'tright.
Trump says these strikes areabout saving Americans from drug
overdoses.
That's the justification, thestated mission.
So let's look at what wasactually happening to overdose
deaths before the bombingstarted.
(11:11):
According to the CDCs NationalCenter for Health Statistics,
overdose deaths in the USdropped by nearly 27% in 2024.
That's roughly 30,000 fewerdeaths going from about 110,000
in 2023 to just over 80,000 in2024.
The lowest level since 2019.
(11:32):
To be absolutely clear, 80,000deaths is still horrific.
That's 80,000 familiesshattered.
80,000 futures cut short, butfor the first time since 2018,
the trend line was finallymoving in the right direction.
Specifically opioid deathsincluding fentanyl, fell by more
(11:54):
than a third in a single yearfrom about 83,000 to around
55,000.
So what was working?
According to SAMHSA, thesubstance abuse and Mental
Health Services administration.
Distribution of Naloxone morethan doubled between 2020 and
2023.
The overdose reversal drug wasgetting into more hands, saving
(12:16):
more lives.
Access to treatment, expandedharm reduction programs grew.
Community health organizationsramped up outreach.
Public health departments builtsystems to track new toxins in
the drug supply.
These were evidence-basedinterventions.
Funded by bipartisan legislationpassed under the Biden
administration and they weremaking a difference.
(12:40):
Then Trump took office.
In March, 2025.
The administration abruptlyrevoked$11.4 billion in federal
funding for addiction and mentalhealth programs.
Grants were canceled mid-cycle,in the middle of active work.
Their justification.
HHS said they would no longerwaste billions of taxpayer
(13:02):
dollars responding to anon-existent pandemic.
But the money wasn't only forCOVID, it was for saving people
from overdoses.
In May, they proposed cuts toSAMHSA's Naloxone program, the
very program that had doubledaccess to the lifesaving drug.
In July as NPR reported, theadministration delayed another
(13:23):
$140 million in grants forfentanyl response efforts
through a CDC program.
Leaving public healthdepartments in 49 states in
limbo.
States paused outreach just asdeaths were declining, and
experts warned these cuts wouldreverse progress and cost lives.
Then Trump took it a stepfurther.
(13:45):
He went after the data itself OnApril 1st, not even three months
into his second term, ProPublicareported that the entire team
running the national survey ondrug use and health were fired,
all 17 people.
That survey has been around insome form or another since 1971
and was a primary federaldataset tracking substance abuse
(14:09):
and mental health in America.
It is mandated by law, but theadministration fired the entire
team anyway.
Jennifer Hoenig, the formerproject lead, told ProPublica,
"we will lose lives to overdose.
We will lose lives to suicide".
A week later, the administrationterminated another federal
committee on mental illness,also required by statute.
(14:32):
And when other data contradictedthe administration's narrative.
Same playbook.
In August, Trump fired ErikaMcEntarfer, the commissioner of
the Bureau of Labor Statisticsfor releasing what he called a
"bad jobs report".
The pattern is clear.
The programs that worked weredefunded.
(14:52):
The data that proved they workedwas deleted, and the experts who
warned about it were fired.
Then in September, the bombingcampaign began.
While gutting the programs thatsave lives and destroying the
data that tracked them, theadministration launched a
campaign of extra judicialkillings in the Caribbean.
(15:13):
No evidence that strikes wouldreduce overdose deaths.
No analysis on how blowing upboats in the Caribbean stops
fentanyl at the Mexican border.
Just explosions, body counts,and press releases declaring
victory.
So all of this begs the questionwhy?
Why use lethal force to go afterdrug smugglers when things were
(15:36):
starting to get better backhome?
The answer came into focus inOctober when Venezuela
opposition leader Maria CorinaMachado, won the Nobel Peace
Prize.
She dedicated it to theVenezuelan people and to Donald
Trump, thanking him for his"decisive support" in her fight
to topple Nicholas Maduro.
(15:56):
She also called for greater USmilitary intervention.
Here's what's important to knowabout her.
According to investigatorreporting and confirmed by
Public records, Machado has beenfunded by US linked
organizations for more than twodecades.
When she was elected toVenezuela's National Assembly in
2010, it was with their directfinancial support.
(16:18):
Human rights watch notes, thatin 2002, she participated in a
coup attempt against Venezuela'sdemocratically elected President
Hugo Chavez.
An effort to dissolve thecountry's Congress,
constitution, and Supreme Court.
When opposition voters finallyhad a chance to choose their
candidate in 2012, she won lessthan 4%, considered two hard
(16:39):
line, even by the right wingopposition.
Now to be fair, Machado has beenfighting against real
authoritarians.
Hugo Chavez centralized power,dismantled democratic
institutions, and used oilwealth to build a patronage
system that wrecked Venezuela'seconomy.
Nicholas Maduro, his protegemade it worse.
(17:01):
Rigging elections imprisoningthousands of opponents driving
millions into exile.
Venezuela's humanitarian crisisis real.
The dictatorship is real, andMachado has genuinely opposed it
for decades.
But opposition to dictatorshipdoesn't automatically mean
you're fighting for democracy.
(17:22):
Sometimes it just means you'refighting for a different kind of
deal.
Here's what I mean.
Back in February, 2025 on DonaldTrump jr's podcast.
Triggered.
She spelled out exactly whatthat deal meant for her and for
the country.
When asked about Venezuela'sfuture, its resources, its
allies, its path forward, sheframed it like this.
(17:45):
Forget about Saudi Arabia.
Forget about the Saudis.
I mean, we have more oil, I meaninfinite potential, and we're
going to open markets.
We're gonna kick off thegovernment.
From the oil sector, we aregoing to pre privatize all our
industries.
Venezuela has huge resources,oil, gas, minerals, land,
(18:09):
technology.
And as you said before, we havea strategic location.
You know, ours from the UnitedStates, so we're gonna do this,
right?
We know what we have to do, andAmerican companies are in, you
know, super strategic POposition to invest this country.
Venezuela is going to be.
The brightest opportunity forinvestment of American
(18:33):
companies, of good people thatare going to make a lot of
money.
That wasn't an offhand comment.
It revealed her version ofdemocracy, a Venezuela where
privatization and US investmentdefine freedom.
Where sovereignty means openingthe country to American
exploitation.
(18:55):
And the man driving her case inWashington is Marco Rubio, who
as Senator co nominated her forthe Nobel Peace Prize and is now
spearheading this Caribbeanoperation.
Reuters reported that betweenJanuary and April, 2025, Machado
and her team met with Rubio andother Trump officials at least
eight times.
(19:16):
Those meetings discusseddesignating Venezuelan gangs.
Particularly Tren De Aragua asterrorist organizations laying
the legal framework to justifymilitary strikes.
In late October on Bloomberg's,Mishal Hussein show Machado
explicitly endorsed theCaribbean strikes that had
already killed dozens of people.
"Finally, this is happening,"she told Hussein.
(19:37):
When asked if the deaths werejustified, she said, this is
about saving lives.
These deaths are theresponsibility of Nicholas
Maduro.
Just days later, Trump sat downfor his 60 minutes interview
with Norah O’Donnell.
A wide ranging interview thattouched on many topics, hears a
few comments that he made aboutVenezuela.
(20:00):
Are we going to war againstVenezuela?
I doubt it.
I don't think so.
But they've been treating usvery badly.
Not only on drugs.
But I just wanna talk about thescale of the military operation
around Venezuela, because it hasbeen described as 60 minutes as
using a blowtorch to cook anegg.
Is this about stopping?
I don't think so.
Look, is it about, let me askyou though.
(20:21):
Is it about stopping narcoticsor is this about getting rid of
President Maduro?
No, this is about.
Many things on Venezuela inparticular are Maduro's days as
President Number, I would say.
Yeah, I think so, yeah.
And this issue of potential landstrikes in Venezuela, is that
true?
I don't tell you that.
I mean, uh, I'm not saying it'strue or untrue, but I'd, you
(20:44):
know, I wouldn't, why would wedo it?
I wouldn't be inclined to saythat I would do that, but.
Despite his contradictoryanswers, the New York Times has
reported that officials havebeen clear in private.
The end goal is to drive Madurofrom power.
This was never about drugs.
It was about oil, power, andregime change.
(21:06):
International law is clear onall of this.
According to AmnestyInternational, there is no
credible legal basis for thesestrikes.
The amount to extra judicialexecutions.
The UN charter prohibits theunilateral use of force, accept
in self defense, and someone ona boat carrying drugs is not
launching an armed attackagainst the United States.
(21:28):
UN experts have said flatly.
International law does notpermit the use of force abroad
to fight drug trafficking.
You can't just kill peoplebecause they're suspected
criminals.
That's what courts are for.
Arrest them, charge them, putthem on trial.
Now you might be thinking,hasn't America used lethal force
(21:49):
abroad like this before?
Defenders of these strikes argueexactly that, that this isn't
unprecedented, that America hasdone this before many times.
So let's examine that claim.
The closest comparison is theObama era drone program.
563 strikes roughly 3,800 peoplekilled, including civilians.
(22:11):
Controversial, absolutely.
But technically conducted undera Congressional authorization
passed after nine 11 to go aftergroups tied to those attacks.
Trump strikes have no suchauthorization.
They're targeting people whonever attacked the U.S..
In 1989, when Bush Sr invadedPanama to arrest Manuel Noriega
(22:34):
on drug trafficking charges,that operation was widely
condemned as a violation ofinternational law.
But even then, the US didn'tjust kill Noriega.
They captured him and put him ontrial.
There was at least a semblanceof due process.
Now there's none.
That's why legal scholars andhuman rights groups are calling
(22:55):
these operations, what they are,extra judicial killings.
So no, America has never run acampaign quite like this before.
But someone else has recentlyand in a very similar way.
His name is Rodrigo Duterte,former president of the
Philippines, and just this yearhe surrendered to the
(23:18):
international Criminal Court toface charges of crimes against
humanity.
Duterte came to power in 2016 ona simple promise he would
eliminate the drug problem, notthrough treatment, not through
rehabilitation, but throughkilling.
He told the public,"if you knowof any addicts, go ahead and
(23:41):
kill them yourself".
And he meant it.
Within months, according toHuman rights Watch, Duterte
launched what he called a war ondrugs.
Police were given shoot to killorders.
Citizens were offered bounties.
No trials, no due process, justdeath.
(24:01):
Over the next six years, between6,000 and 30,000 people were
killed.
The real number likely closer to30,000.
And who were the victims?
Just like in Trump's campaign,they weren't cartel kingpins or
major traffickers.
It was mostly the poor, smalltime users, petty sellers,
(24:25):
people accused by neighbors,police, or anyone with a grudge.
Maria Ressa, the journalist whowould later win the Nobel Peace
Prize, documented it all throughher news agency, Rappler.
She recalled during the firstyear,"we would find about eight
bodies every morning." Lemme saythat again.
Eight bodies every morning.
(24:47):
Duterte bragged about it.
Compared himself to Hitler.
Said he'd be happy to slaughtermillions of addicts.
And when journalists exposed thekillings, he went after them
too.
Calling Rappler, fake news,weaponizing the courts filing
case after Case against Ressa,tax evasion, cyber libel,
anything to shut her down.
(25:08):
Playbook sound familiar?
The connection runs even deeper.
In December, 2016, between hiselection and inauguration, Trump
called Duterte.
According to transcriptsobtained by the press, Trump
praised the killings, toldDuterte he was doing an
unbelievable job on the drugproblem.
(25:28):
And Trump kept praising himpublicly and privately for
years.
When critics called Duterte amurderer, Trump said he was
doing it the right way.
Maria Ressa noticed the echo.
She told NPR when Trump calledCNN Fake News.
A week later, Duterte calledRappler, Fake News.
(25:49):
And now in 2025, Duterte is inthe Hague.
He surrendered to theinternational criminal court to
face charges of crimes againsthumanity.
For his drug war and systematicmurder of civilians.
Duterte is currently awaitingtrial.
But Donald Trump is stillfollowing his playbook, killing,
(26:09):
suspected drug traffickerswithout trial.
Targeting poor people at thebottom of the trade, dismantling
systems of accountability,attacking the press, firing
experts, erasing data.
Yes, there are some differences.
Different location,international waters versus
Manila streets.
Different numbers, dozens so farinstead of thousands.
(26:32):
But the principle is the sameand the world is watching.
And the escalation continues.
According to the hill, Trump hasconfirmed that the CIA is
authorized for lethal groundoperations inside Venezuela.
The Pentagon is drafting optionsfor strikes in Venezuelan ports
(26:53):
and airfields, calling themdecapitation strikes.
And CNN reported on November 6ththat the administration is
seeking a new Justice Departmentopinion.
This time that justify strikeson land targets in Venezuela,
again without congressionalapproval.
The current classified opiniononly covers boats in
international waters.
(27:14):
They want one that coversVenezuelan soil.
As one US official told CNN whenasked about the policy.
"What is true, one day may verywell not be the next".
Venezuela has called this themost significant military threat
in a hundred years.
President Mado has requestedmilitary assistance from Russia
missiles, radar, fighter jets.
(27:36):
As reported by multiple outlets.
A Russian cargo plane linked toformer Wagner mercenaries landed
in Caracas, possibly deliveringair defense systems.
Russia is reportedly open tosending hypersonic missiles, and
one Putin ally has even floatedthe idea of nuclear capable
missiles.
We're watching the pieces fallinto place for a much larger
(27:57):
conflict.
Legal scholars warn that ifTrump is using the CAA for
regime change, he'scircumventing both US law and
hard learned history.
Tim Weiner national securityhistorian said that the"history
of CIA coups around the world,particularly in the Western
Hemisphere, is not a happy one.
From Guatemala to the Bay ofPigs, to the Contra Wars, to the
(28:21):
invasion of Panama, the list islong and its successes in the
long run are disasters".
So let's review where we are.
Overdose deaths were alreadyfalling.
The fastest drop in years beforeany of this began.
The programs that worked weredefunded.
The data that proved it erased.
(28:42):
In their place a campaign ofextra judicial killings, dozens
dead, no trials, no proof theywere cartel leaders and anyone
inside the system who questionedit silenced or forced out.
Has America done this before?
No.
But Rodrigo Duterte did.
Using the same rhetoric, thesame targets, the same claim of
(29:06):
a war to save the nation whilekilling its most vulnerable
people.
And Duterte is now at The Hague.
Where does this end?
That's no longer clear.
What began as boat strikes isquickly escalating into
something far larger.
Targets are being chosen, regimechange is being threatened and
back home, each new step stripsaway one more check on
(29:30):
presidential power.
This is not a war on drugs.
It never was.
It's something else entirely.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Khannecting
the Dots.
If this episode helped you get aclearer picture of what's
happening in Venezuela, pleaseconsider subscribing, sharing,
(29:52):
and leaving a review.
Until next time, stay curious,stay critical, and stay
connected.
I don't think we're gonnanecessarily ask for a
declaration of war.
I think we're just gonna killpeople that are bringing drugs
into our country.
Okay?
We're gonna kill them, you know?
They're gonna be like dead.
Okay.
That was the president back onOctober 23rd, not making a
hypothetical statement orspeaking in hyperbole.
(00:21):
He was making a statement ofpolicy and he meant every word
of it.
Since early September, the USmilitary has carried out at
least 17 strikes on boats in theCaribbean and the Eastern
Pacific Ocean.
18 boats destroyed and at least70 people dead.
Only two known survivors, andwe'll get to what happened to
(00:43):
them in a bit.
This isn't a counter-narcoticsoperation in any traditional
sense.
There are no arrests, no trials,no due process.
The US military identifies aboat, decides it's carrying
drugs or that it's on a knowndrug trafficking route and
destroys it.
(01:04):
Everyone on board dies.
Usually.
The administration causes anarmed conflict with drug
cartels.
According to reporting by theNew York Times, they've issued a
classified legal opiniontreating suspected drug
traffickers as enemy combatantswho can be killed on sight.
The strikes happen ininternational waters, and as the
(01:26):
Washington Post has documented,congress has been kept largely
in the dark.
Here's what makes all of thiseven more startling.
The drug crisis was alreadyimproving before any of this
started.
So what's really happening here?
How did we get to a place wherethe United States is conducting
extra judicial killings in theCaribbean?
(01:46):
Is this legal?
Has America ever done anythinglike this before?
And maybe most importantly,someone else has done this
before.
Recently.
And that person is now facingprosecution for Crimes against
Humanity at the InternationalCriminal Court.
Before we get there though,let's start with what we know
(02:09):
about the operations themselves.
According to the US Navy, theUSS Gerald R.
Ford, the world's largest andmost advanced aircraft carrier
is in the Caribbean right now,along with its full strike
group, over 4,000 Marines andsailors.
Nuclear submarines, multiplewarships and F 35 fighter jets.
(02:33):
As CNN reported, this is thelargest US military presence in
Latin America in decades.
And what are they hunting?
Boats.
Not sophisticated smugglingoperations, not vessels with
major cartel leadership.
Based on the limited informationdefense Secretary Hegseth has
released on social media.
(02:55):
These look like small boatsoperated by low level
traffickers, mules, maybe evensubsistence fishermen who took
the wrong job.
Hegseth posts videos of thestrikes, boats exploding,
captions reading"narcotrafficking vessels eliminated"
"four male narco terroristskilled".
(03:16):
He's taken to calling theseattacks"lethal kinetic strikes".
Language built to sanitizewhat's happening.
To turn killing into anadministrative act.
But as Reuters and NBC havenoted, the administration offers
no real evidence about who thesepeople actually were.
No names, no verified cartelaffiliations after the fact,
(03:39):
just boats destroyed and bodiesin the water.
Here's how they're justifyingthis.
The drug traffickers are enemycombatants The US is in what
they call a"non-internationalarmed conflict with drug
cartels".
The same legal framing used forthe war on terror after nine 11.
(03:59):
Trump formerly notified Congresson October 1st that the US was
in this armed conflict withunlawful combatants in the
Caribbean.
CNN reported that the classifiedopinion lists 24 different
cartels and criminalorganizations the administration
claims authority to target.
But this is crucial.
(04:19):
In an early November briefing toCongress officials admitted they
don't really know who's actuallyon those boats before attacking
them.
Strikes are conducted based onintelligence leaking vessels to
cartels, not on knowing.
Who's on board?
Just think about that for asecond.
Our government is openlyacknowledging that it's killing
people without knowing who theyreally are.
(04:43):
Despite the secrecy, dedicatedreporters are starting to shed
light on who some of thesepeople were.
According to the AP reporter,Regina Garcia Cano traveled to
Venezuela's Northeastern coastto the villages where some of
these boats left from.
And in dozens of interviews, sheidentified some of the dead men.
(05:03):
A fisherman, a bus driver downon his luck.
A former military cadet,laborers, a motorcycle driver.
Only one was identified as alocal crime boss.
Most were on their first orsecond trip making$500 per run.
Families and neighborsconfirmed, yes, they were
running drugs, but they weren'tnarco terrorists, cartel leaders
(05:27):
or gang commanders.
They were poor men taking on adangerous job for desperately
needed money.
And now their families can'teven hold funerals because the
Venezuelan government won'tconfirm the deaths and might
punish them if they mournpublicly.
So basically our government iskilling the most vulnerable
(05:47):
people in the drug trade.
Those at the very bottom of thesupply chain who are poor,
desperate, and have no one todemand accountability for them.
And when someone actuallysurvives a strike, that's when
the legal framework completelyfalls apart.
On October 17th, Pentagonstatements say, US forces hit a
(06:08):
semi-submersible, what theycalled a"drug carrying
submarine" in the Caribbean.
Two people were killed, but twosurvived, and the administration
didn't know what to do withthem.
As CNN reported, the militarydetained them aboard a Navy
worship, while officialsscrambled to figure out the
legal authority for holdingthem.
If these are enemy combatants inan armed conflict, can they be
(06:30):
held as prisoners of war?
Do they get trials?
What are they charged with?
The governments solution.
Send them back.
Within days, both survivors, onefrom Ecuador, one from Columbia,
was repatriated to their homecountries.
Ecuador promptly released itscitizens stating there was no
evidence to charge'em with acrime.
(06:52):
Think about what that means.
The US blew up boat killed twopeople.
Almost killed two more.
And when one survivor got home,his own government said there's
no case here.
According to Reuters, militaryofficials involved in these
operations have been required tosign unusually strict
non-disclosure agreements.
(07:14):
Pentagon Judge AdvocateGenerals, or JAG's, told CNN
they had serious legal concernsabout the strikes, and then
found themselves cut outta thedecision making process.
Meanwhile, Congress is alsobeing frozen out.
Senator Mark Warner, a member ofthe Gang of eight, told CBS's
has faced a nation on September7th that he'd received no
(07:37):
briefing on the strikes, neitherhad the Senate Intelligence
Committee.
A bipartisan briefing scheduledfor September 5th, had been
abruptly canceled.
In late September and earlyOctober, as Hill reported, the
top Republican and Democrat onthe Senate Armed Services
Committee, Roger Wicker and JackReed, sent two letters to the
defense secretary asking basicquestions about the military
(07:59):
strikes.
Both went unanswered.
Then October 8th, senators AdamSchiff and Tim Kane introduced
the War Powers resolution torequire Congressional approval
for further strikes.
It failed.
Mainly along party lines.
51 to 48 with one senator,absent only two Republicans,
(08:21):
Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paulvoted in favor.
A few weeks later, hegsethescalated.
In mid-October.
An internal memo barred mostdefense department staff,
including commanders fromtalking to Congress without
prior approval.
He even created a specific listof topics requiring prior
(08:41):
coordination before anyengagement with lawmakers.
The Caribbean and Pacificstrikes are on that list.
When the administration finallyheld a briefing on the strikes
In late October, Democratsweren't invited, only
Republicans.
Senator Warner called this"indefensible and dangerous".
(09:01):
Then on November 1st, theJustice Department's top lawyer
told lawmakers the presidentdoesn't need their approval to
keep bombing boats because hesaid it doesn't legally count as
war.
In other words, Trump can keepkilling people indefinitely and
Congress has no say.
But still, Congress tried onemore time.
(09:24):
On November 6th, a second WarPowers resolution came to a
vote.
It failed 51 to 49 again withthe same two Republicans, Rand
Paul and Lisa Murkowski breakingranks.
That's twice now that mostRepublicans agreed with Trump
and his administration.
Congress doesn't need to beinvolved.
(09:44):
The killings can continue.
The legal community is alarmed.
In October, the A CLU and theCenter for Constitutional Rights
filed a request to obtain theJustice Department's classified
legal guidance on these strikes.
They argue the strikes areunlawful because those on board
are civilians, and no war hasbeen declared against these
(10:05):
alleged drug organizations.
The center's legal director putit bluntly:"in a constitutional
system, no president canarbitrarily choose to
assassinate individuals from thesky based on his whim or say,
so.
The Trump administration istaking its indiscriminate
pattern of lawlessness to alethal level." According to a
(10:27):
Pentagon announcement, admiralAlvin Holsey stepped down as
commander of US SouthernCommand, the command that
oversees these operations afterless than a year.
In the role.
The Pentagon gave no reason, butsources speaking to CNN
speculated, he was uncomfortablewith the policy of killing
civilians without judicialprocess.
(10:50):
So even inside the military, thepeople task to carry out these
orders know something isn'tright.
Trump says these strikes areabout saving Americans from drug
overdoses.
That's the justification, thestated mission.
So let's look at what wasactually happening to overdose
deaths before the bombingstarted.
(11:11):
According to the CDCs NationalCenter for Health Statistics,
overdose deaths in the USdropped by nearly 27% in 2024.
That's roughly 30,000 fewerdeaths going from about 110,000
in 2023 to just over 80,000 in2024.
The lowest level since 2019.
(11:32):
To be absolutely clear, 80,000deaths is still horrific.
That's 80,000 familiesshattered.
80,000 futures cut short, butfor the first time since 2018,
the trend line was finallymoving in the right direction.
Specifically opioid deathsincluding fentanyl, fell by more
(11:54):
than a third in a single yearfrom about 83,000 to around
55,000.
So what was working?
According to SAMHSA, thesubstance abuse and Mental
Health Services administration.
Distribution of Naloxone morethan doubled between 2020 and
2023.
The overdose reversal drug wasgetting into more hands, saving
(12:16):
more lives.
Access to treatment, expandedharm reduction programs grew.
Community health organizationsramped up outreach.
Public health departments builtsystems to track new toxins in
the drug supply.
These were evidence-basedinterventions.
Funded by bipartisan legislationpassed under the Biden
administration and they weremaking a difference.
(12:40):
Then Trump took office.
In March, 2025.
The administration abruptlyrevoked$11.4 billion in federal
funding for addiction and mentalhealth programs.
Grants were canceled mid-cycle,in the middle of active work.
Their justification.
HHS said they would no longerwaste billions of taxpayer
(13:02):
dollars responding to anon-existent pandemic.
But the money wasn't only forCOVID, it was for saving people
from overdoses.
In May, they proposed cuts toSAMHSA's Naloxone program, the
very program that had doubledaccess to the lifesaving drug.
In July as NPR reported, theadministration delayed another
(13:23):
$140 million in grants forfentanyl response efforts
through a CDC program.
Leaving public healthdepartments in 49 states in
limbo.
States paused outreach just asdeaths were declining, and
experts warned these cuts wouldreverse progress and cost lives.
Then Trump took it a stepfurther.
(13:45):
He went after the data itself OnApril 1st, not even three months
into his second term, ProPublicareported that the entire team
running the national survey ondrug use and health were fired,
all 17 people.
That survey has been around insome form or another since 1971
and was a primary federaldataset tracking substance abuse
(14:09):
and mental health in America.
It is mandated by law, but theadministration fired the entire
team anyway.
Jennifer Hoenig, the formerproject lead, told ProPublica,
"we will lose lives to overdose.
We will lose lives to suicide".
A week later, the administrationterminated another federal
committee on mental illness,also required by statute.
(14:32):
And when other data contradictedthe administration's narrative.
Same playbook.
In August, Trump fired ErikaMcEntarfer, the commissioner of
the Bureau of Labor Statisticsfor releasing what he called a
"bad jobs report".
The pattern is clear.
The programs that worked weredefunded.
(14:52):
The data that proved they workedwas deleted, and the experts who
warned about it were fired.
Then in September, the bombingcampaign began.
While gutting the programs thatsave lives and destroying the
data that tracked them, theadministration launched a
campaign of extra judicialkillings in the Caribbean.
(15:13):
No evidence that strikes wouldreduce overdose deaths.
No analysis on how blowing upboats in the Caribbean stops
fentanyl at the Mexican border.
Just explosions, body counts,and press releases declaring
victory.
So all of this begs the questionwhy?
Why use lethal force to go afterdrug smugglers when things were
(15:36):
starting to get better backhome?
The answer came into focus inOctober when Venezuela
opposition leader Maria CorinaMachado, won the Nobel Peace
Prize.
She dedicated it to theVenezuelan people and to Donald
Trump, thanking him for his"decisive support" in her fight
to topple Nicholas Maduro.
(15:56):
She also called for greater USmilitary intervention.
Here's what's important to knowabout her.
According to investigatorreporting and confirmed by
Public records, Machado has beenfunded by US linked
organizations for more than twodecades.
When she was elected toVenezuela's National Assembly in
2010, it was with their directfinancial support.
(16:18):
Human rights watch notes, thatin 2002, she participated in a
coup attempt against Venezuela'sdemocratically elected President
Hugo Chavez.
An effort to dissolve thecountry's Congress,
constitution, and Supreme Court.
When opposition voters finallyhad a chance to choose their
candidate in 2012, she won lessthan 4%, considered two hard
(16:39):
line, even by the right wingopposition.
Now to be fair, Machado has beenfighting against real
authoritarians.
Hugo Chavez centralized power,dismantled democratic
institutions, and used oilwealth to build a patronage
system that wrecked Venezuela'seconomy.
Nicholas Maduro, his protegemade it worse.
(17:01):
Rigging elections imprisoningthousands of opponents driving
millions into exile.
Venezuela's humanitarian crisisis real.
The dictatorship is real, andMachado has genuinely opposed it
for decades.
But opposition to dictatorshipdoesn't automatically mean
you're fighting for democracy.
(17:22):
Sometimes it just means you'refighting for a different kind of
deal.
Here's what I mean.
Back in February, 2025 on DonaldTrump jr's podcast.
Triggered.
She spelled out exactly whatthat deal meant for her and for
the country.
When asked about Venezuela'sfuture, its resources, its
allies, its path forward, sheframed it like this.
(17:45):
Forget about Saudi Arabia.
Forget about the Saudis.
I mean, we have more oil, I meaninfinite potential, and we're
going to open markets.
We're gonna kick off thegovernment.
From the oil sector, we aregoing to pre privatize all our
industries.
Venezuela has huge resources,oil, gas, minerals, land,
(18:09):
technology.
And as you said before, we havea strategic location.
You know, ours from the UnitedStates, so we're gonna do this,
right?
We know what we have to do, andAmerican companies are in, you
know, super strategic POposition to invest this country.
Venezuela is going to be.
The brightest opportunity forinvestment of American
(18:33):
companies, of good people thatare going to make a lot of
money.
That wasn't an offhand comment.
It revealed her version ofdemocracy, a Venezuela where
privatization and US investmentdefine freedom.
Where sovereignty means openingthe country to American
exploitation.
(18:55):
And the man driving her case inWashington is Marco Rubio, who
as Senator co nominated her forthe Nobel Peace Prize and is now
spearheading this Caribbeanoperation.
Reuters reported that betweenJanuary and April, 2025, Machado
and her team met with Rubio andother Trump officials at least
eight times.
(19:16):
Those meetings discusseddesignating Venezuelan gangs.
Particularly Tren De Aragua asterrorist organizations laying
the legal framework to justifymilitary strikes.
In late October on Bloomberg's,Mishal Hussein show Machado
explicitly endorsed theCaribbean strikes that had
already killed dozens of people.
"Finally, this is happening,"she told Hussein.
(19:37):
When asked if the deaths werejustified, she said, this is
about saving lives.
These deaths are theresponsibility of Nicholas
Maduro.
Just days later, Trump sat downfor his 60 minutes interview
with Norah O’Donnell.
A wide ranging interview thattouched on many topics, hears a
few comments that he made aboutVenezuela.
(20:00):
Are we going to war againstVenezuela?
I doubt it.
I don't think so.
But they've been treating usvery badly.
Not only on drugs.
But I just wanna talk about thescale of the military operation
around Venezuela, because it hasbeen described as 60 minutes as
using a blowtorch to cook anegg.
Is this about stopping?
I don't think so.
Look, is it about, let me askyou though.
(20:21):
Is it about stopping narcoticsor is this about getting rid of
President Maduro?
No, this is about.
Many things on Venezuela inparticular are Maduro's days as
President Number, I would say.
Yeah, I think so, yeah.
And this issue of potential landstrikes in Venezuela, is that
true?
I don't tell you that.
I mean, uh, I'm not saying it'strue or untrue, but I'd, you
(20:44):
know, I wouldn't, why would wedo it?
I wouldn't be inclined to saythat I would do that, but.
Despite his contradictoryanswers, the New York Times has
reported that officials havebeen clear in private.
The end goal is to drive Madurofrom power.
This was never about drugs.
It was about oil, power, andregime change.
(21:06):
International law is clear onall of this.
According to AmnestyInternational, there is no
credible legal basis for thesestrikes.
The amount to extra judicialexecutions.
The UN charter prohibits theunilateral use of force, accept
in self defense, and someone ona boat carrying drugs is not
launching an armed attackagainst the United States.
(21:28):
UN experts have said flatly.
International law does notpermit the use of force abroad
to fight drug trafficking.
You can't just kill peoplebecause they're suspected
criminals.
That's what courts are for.
Arrest them, charge them, putthem on trial.
Now you might be thinking,hasn't America used lethal force
(21:49):
abroad like this before?
Defenders of these strikes argueexactly that, that this isn't
unprecedented, that America hasdone this before many times.
So let's examine that claim.
The closest comparison is theObama era drone program.
563 strikes roughly 3,800 peoplekilled, including civilians.
(22:11):
Controversial, absolutely.
But technically conducted undera Congressional authorization
passed after nine 11 to go aftergroups tied to those attacks.
Trump strikes have no suchauthorization.
They're targeting people whonever attacked the U.S..
In 1989, when Bush Sr invadedPanama to arrest Manuel Noriega
(22:34):
on drug trafficking charges,that operation was widely
condemned as a violation ofinternational law.
But even then, the US didn'tjust kill Noriega.
They captured him and put him ontrial.
There was at least a semblanceof due process.
Now there's none.
That's why legal scholars andhuman rights groups are calling
(22:55):
these operations, what they are,extra judicial killings.
So no, America has never run acampaign quite like this before.
But someone else has recentlyand in a very similar way.
His name is Rodrigo Duterte,former president of the
Philippines, and just this yearhe surrendered to the
(23:18):
international Criminal Court toface charges of crimes against
humanity.
Duterte came to power in 2016 ona simple promise he would
eliminate the drug problem, notthrough treatment, not through
rehabilitation, but throughkilling.
He told the public,"if you knowof any addicts, go ahead and
(23:41):
kill them yourself".
And he meant it.
Within months, according toHuman rights Watch, Duterte
launched what he called a war ondrugs.
Police were given shoot to killorders.
Citizens were offered bounties.
No trials, no due process, justdeath.
(24:01):
Over the next six years, between6,000 and 30,000 people were
killed.
The real number likely closer to30,000.
And who were the victims?
Just like in Trump's campaign,they weren't cartel kingpins or
major traffickers.
It was mostly the poor, smalltime users, petty sellers,
(24:25):
people accused by neighbors,police, or anyone with a grudge.
Maria Ressa, the journalist whowould later win the Nobel Peace
Prize, documented it all throughher news agency, Rappler.
She recalled during the firstyear,"we would find about eight
bodies every morning." Lemme saythat again.
Eight bodies every morning.
(24:47):
Duterte bragged about it.
Compared himself to Hitler.
Said he'd be happy to slaughtermillions of addicts.
And when journalists exposed thekillings, he went after them
too.
Calling Rappler, fake news,weaponizing the courts filing
case after Case against Ressa,tax evasion, cyber libel,
anything to shut her down.
(25:08):
Playbook sound familiar?
The connection runs even deeper.
In December, 2016, between hiselection and inauguration, Trump
called Duterte.
According to transcriptsobtained by the press, Trump
praised the killings, toldDuterte he was doing an
unbelievable job on the drugproblem.
(25:28):
And Trump kept praising himpublicly and privately for
years.
When critics called Duterte amurderer, Trump said he was
doing it the right way.
Maria Ressa noticed the echo.
She told NPR when Trump calledCNN Fake News.
A week later, Duterte calledRappler, Fake News.
(25:49):
And now in 2025, Duterte is inthe Hague.
He surrendered to theinternational criminal court to
face charges of crimes againsthumanity.
For his drug war and systematicmurder of civilians.
Duterte is currently awaitingtrial.
But Donald Trump is stillfollowing his playbook, killing,
(26:09):
suspected drug traffickerswithout trial.
Targeting poor people at thebottom of the trade, dismantling
systems of accountability,attacking the press, firing
experts, erasing data.
Yes, there are some differences.
Different location,international waters versus
Manila streets.
Different numbers, dozens so farinstead of thousands.
(26:32):
But the principle is the sameand the world is watching.
And the escalation continues.
According to the hill, Trump hasconfirmed that the CIA is
authorized for lethal groundoperations inside Venezuela.
The Pentagon is drafting optionsfor strikes in Venezuelan ports
(26:53):
and airfields, calling themdecapitation strikes.
And CNN reported on November 6ththat the administration is
seeking a new Justice Departmentopinion.
This time that justify strikeson land targets in Venezuela,
again without congressionalapproval.
The current classified opiniononly covers boats in
international waters.
(27:14):
They want one that coversVenezuelan soil.
As one US official told CNN whenasked about the policy.
"What is true, one day may verywell not be the next".
Venezuela has called this themost significant military threat
in a hundred years.
President Mado has requestedmilitary assistance from Russia
missiles, radar, fighter jets.
(27:36):
As reported by multiple outlets.
A Russian cargo plane linked toformer Wagner mercenaries landed
in Caracas, possibly deliveringair defense systems.
Russia is reportedly open tosending hypersonic missiles, and
one Putin ally has even floatedthe idea of nuclear capable
missiles.
We're watching the pieces fallinto place for a much larger
(27:57):
conflict.
Legal scholars warn that ifTrump is using the CAA for
regime change, he'scircumventing both US law and
hard learned history.
Tim Weiner national securityhistorian said that the"history
of CIA coups around the world,particularly in the Western
Hemisphere, is not a happy one.
From Guatemala to the Bay ofPigs, to the Contra Wars, to the
(28:21):
invasion of Panama, the list islong and its successes in the
long run are disasters".
So let's review where we are.
Overdose deaths were alreadyfalling.
The fastest drop in years beforeany of this began.
The programs that worked weredefunded.
The data that proved it erased.
(28:42):
In their place a campaign ofextra judicial killings, dozens
dead, no trials, no proof theywere cartel leaders and anyone
inside the system who questionedit silenced or forced out.
Has America done this before?
No.
But Rodrigo Duterte did.
Using the same rhetoric, thesame targets, the same claim of
(29:06):
a war to save the nation whilekilling its most vulnerable
people.
And Duterte is now at The Hague.
Where does this end?
That's no longer clear.
What began as boat strikes isquickly escalating into
something far larger.
Targets are being chosen, regimechange is being threatened and
back home, each new step stripsaway one more check on
(29:30):
presidential power.
This is not a war on drugs.
It never was.
It's something else entirely.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Khannecting
the Dots.
If this episode helped you get aclearer picture of what's
happening in Venezuela, pleaseconsider subscribing, sharing,
(29:52):
and leaving a review.
Until next time, stay curious,stay critical, and stay
connected.
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