Along with “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth, who regularly shared violent memes defending the military attacks, the White House methodically posted videos of the boat strikes as viral propaganda for a sudden escalation of the deeply unpopular “war on drugs.” Donald Trump has fused that war together with the “war on terror” throughout the first year of his second term. Most of Maduro’s ostensible allies remain in Venezuela and continue to the control the government, including Delcy Rodríguez, the acting president who said on Tuesday the U.S. is not running the country as Trump has claimed. Still, the administration leveraged dramatic videos of the boat strikes and other drug war propaganda to create the appearance of success, at least among Trump supporters, many of whom remain deeply suspicious of foreign military interventions after the disastrous invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Author: Mike Ludwig
Published at: 2026-01-07 21:45:08
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