U.S. Expanded Drug-Cartel Target List to Include Colombian Sites Amid Rubio Push for Venezuelan Regime Change
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expanded his push for regime change in Venezuela to include cartel-linked targets in Colombia and Mexico, according to sources in the Trump administration and on Capitol Hill with knowledge of the unfolding situation.
Rubio’s drive toward war has been predicated on claims that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is involved in the drug trade, including trafficking fentanyl to the U.S. But American intelligence officials have briefed President Donald Trump to the contrary, alerting him to the fact that little to no fentanyl flows from Venezuela to the United States.
At an Oval Office meeting in early October, Trump administration officials and top generals discussed escalating the pressure on Venezuela to go beyond the semi-regular attacks on boats in the Caribbean where fourteen boats have been struck, killing at least 57 people. The discussed plans include striking on land inside Venezuela, a source at the high-level gathering told Drop Site. The same October 2 meeting included a previously reported directive from President Trump, who dialed his special envoy Richard Grenell into the call, telling him to cut off diplomatic communications with Maduro. That order was previously reported by the New York Times.
