The Guardian view on the US and Venezuela: Trump’s ‘war on drugs’ ramps up military threats to Maduro | Editorial

Hawks want regime change. Democrats and others are right to warn against illegal and unauthorised use of force

The drumbeat is growing louder. Covert operations are supposed to remain just that, but on Wednesday Donald Trump confirmed that he had approved secret CIA actions in Venezuela and suggested that he was considering strikes on its territory. These comments follow the administration's extrajudicial killings at sea: attacks on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean that have left at least 27 dead - a frightening new precedent denounced by UN experts as illegal. The US has already built up forces in the region, with about 6,500 troops now stationed there. No to war in the Caribbean ... No to regime change ... No to coups d'etat orchestrated by the CIA," railed Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's dictator, after Mr Trump's remarks.

The US president's repeated claim that each boat strike saves 25,000 American lives is even more preposterous than it first sounds. The fentanyl that killed 48,000 people in the US last year did not come from Venezuela; most of it is from Mexico. But MrMaduro's regime looks increasingly isolated. The US has designated Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang as a terrorist organisation that has invaded" the US, claiming that Mr Maduro is personally responsible. It has used that posturing to justify deportations and to boast - against the evidence - that Mr Trump has cut violent crime in cities.