LETTER: This Is a Coup!

Dear Editor,

Let’s be clear: this is a coup.

The United States does not give a damn about illegal narcotics being trafficked from Venezuela. If it did, its priorities would look very different. The U.S. is currently in the middle of a devastating opioid public health crisis—one fueled by Big Pharma, illegal supply routes through Mexico, and precursor chemicals originating in China. Yet the U.S. shows no urgency in bombing Mexico or China. Why? Because neither country has vast oil reserves waiting to be seized.

I am tired of the United States playing in our faces—bullying the rest of the world like an overgrown child on a playground, snatching toys from smaller children simply because it can.

The U.S. has breached international law by killing people on boats it claims were involved in the illicit drug trade, without arrest, without trial, without due process. Even Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán—one of the most notorious drug lords in modern history and former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel—was not treated this way. He was captured, tried, convicted, and is currently serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison in Colorado.

Yet we are supposed to believe that alleged drug trafficking from Venezuela is so urgent, so exceptional, that it justifies kidnapping the leader of a sovereign nation?

At what point do we call this what it is: a blatant disregard for national sovereignty and a gross violation of human rights?

And where are our regional leaders?

CARICOM is useless. There has been no decisive action, no condemnation, no consequences. Trinidad and Tobago has not been expelled. Trinidadians have not been declared persona non grata. There have been no trade sanctions, no boycotts—even though Kamla Persad-Bissessar previously aligned herself with U.S. interests and is now attempting to backtrack. Trinidad and Tobago products should not be on the shelves of any CARICOM country.

But let’s be honest: CARICOM has no teeth.

We’ve seen this before. CARIFORUM continued to deepen trade ties with the Dominican Republic even after the DR rendered people of Haitian descent stateless—one of the most egregious human rights violations in the region. Our institutions speak loudly when it is convenient and fall silent when it matters most.

When Hurricane Irma devastated Barbuda, it was Nicolás Maduro who sent a military aircraft with humanitarian aid. Petrocaribe—an initiative that has directly benefited the Caribbean—was the brainchild of Hugo Chávez and continued under Maduro. Yet when Venezuela is under attack, our voices are not as pronounced.

The United States has long sought to install a shill in Venezuela to gain access to its natural resources. Remember Juan Guaidó? The man the U.S. recognized as “president” despite never being democratically elected? That experiment failed. Now, the U.S. has grown impatient and manufactured yet another excuse to get what it wants.

This is not new.

The U.S. has a long history of lies, destabilization, and regime change disguised as moral crusades. We watched former Secretary of State Colin Powell stand before the world and lie about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. UN inspectors found none. Still, the invasion went forward.

Over 185,000 Iraqi civilians were killed.

To put that into perspective: that is nearly twice the population of Antigua wiped out.

No weapons of mass destruction were ever found. Years later, Powell would call the war a “regret”—after Iraq was destroyed, destabilized, and left fertile ground for the rise of ISIS.

We have been lied to before.

It is nothing short of shameful that the world is once again silently watching the United States dismantle a country under false pretenses. What is happening in Venezuela is not about drugs. It is not about democracy. It is about power, resources, and control.

This is a coup—no different from the ones the U.S. has orchestrated time and time again.

Jessica M.

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