There is a scary, palpable drumbeat for attacking Venezuela these days. First is the absurd justification by the administration that Venezuela is threatening us by exporting narcotics to users in the U.S. The administration just pardoned an actual narco-terrorist, the former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez, so clearly the U.S. isn’t killing boaters in the Caribbean without evidence or trial because of concern about drugs. Though all this detective work isn’t really necessary, our president has repeatedly stated clearly the desire and intention to appropriate Venezuela’s oil and other mineral wealth.

Today I heard NPR cite the “desperate need for regime change” based on stories of government persecution, which might be true, from the opposition leader. Even if Venezuela were a dictatorship as they describe, would that give the U.S. the right to overthrow their sovereign government by force? And if dictatorships are so objectionable, why do we install and support them worldwide, fete them at the White House, etc.? And does regime change work? Were Hondurans better under the rule of the aforementioned narco than the current government?

This is part of a long-term pattern — the U.S. has interfered with the sovereignty of every country in Latin America except French Guiana. Currently Honduras is in the throes of an undecided election confused in part by a threatening tweet from the U.S. president. In the balance is whether the U.S. favored candidate, the same party as the formerly mentioned narco-terrorist recently pardoned, takes control of the country.

Of all the offenses committed against Latin American countries, the recent killings of boaters in the Caribbean, apparently including two persons clinging to floating debris, seem particularly worrying given the recent abandonment of even the threadbare norms of conflict from the attack on Gaza. Will the U.S. end up bombing Venezuelan hospitals?

Opposing this juggernaut is a challenge obviously, but at the very least we should realize that like so many times before, we are being manipulated into consensus for a war that will not benefit the U.S. and will cause untold pain and destruction. And we must share our skepticism with others, including our elected representatives.

Dave King

Amherst