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As the United States ramps up strikes connected Venezuelan boats and threatens a onshore penetration to combat alleged cause trafficking networks, President Donald Trump has pardoned Honduras’s erstwhile President Juan Orlando Hernandez and released him from a 45-year situation condemnation successful the US for weapons and cause trafficking offences.
Since September, US subject strikes connected astatine slightest 21 Venezuelan boats successful the Caribbean and eastbound Pacific person killed more than 80 people. The Trump medication claims these boats were trafficking drugs to the US but has not backed these allegations with immoderate evidence.
Meanwhile, the US itself has a agelong past of leveraging narcotics smuggling and cause gangs to enactment its overseas argumentation goals successful assorted parts of the world, opening with the 19th-century Opium Wars with China.
Is the US truly warring a cause trafficking situation successful Venezuela?
Cocaine accumulation deed a grounds 3,708 tonnes globally successful 2023, according to the United Nations Office connected Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
However, it recovered that cocaine originates successful Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, and astir US-bound cocaine routes spell done Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, not Venezuela, which serves arsenic lone a insignificant transit corridor.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported past twelvemonth that 84 percent of US-seized cocaine comes from Colombia and did not notation Venezuela arsenic a source.
If Trump wants to clamp down connected drugs, wherefore did helium pardon Hernandez?
US President Donald Trump pardoned the cause condemnation of Juan Orlando Hernandez, the erstwhile president of Honduras and subordinate of the country’s right-wing National Party, connected November 28.
On Monday this week, Hernandez was released from his 45-year situation condemnation astatine the high-security installation of USP Hazelton successful West Virginia successful the US.
Hernandez had been extradited to the US successful 2022 and was recovered blameworthy of conspiring to import cocaine to the US and of possessing machineguns, successful 2024.
Justifying his determination to pardon him, Trump said Hernandez had been “treated precise harshly and unfairly” successful a societal media station connected Friday.
However, immoderate observers judge this shows that Trump’s existent nonsubjective successful targeting Venezuela is simply a tendency to unseat the country’s left-wing president, Nicolas Maduro, who is accused by the US of having links to cause cartels and of adjacent overseeing cause trafficking networks. The US precocious raised a reward for accusation starring to Maduro’s apprehension to $50m.
How has the US been progressive successful cause trafficking successful the past?
The US has been accused of making usage of cause trafficking networks to enactment its ain aims astatine galore points passim history.
We instrumentality a look astatine astir 2 centuries of US engagement successful cause trafficking.
(Al Jazeera)1800s: The Opium Wars
Trump has accused China of flooding the US with fentanyl successful caller years, and has utilized the menace of commercialized tariffs to unit it to cooperate successful preventing the trafficking of this highly addictive opiate drug.
But 200 years ago, Western imperial powers specified arsenic the United Kingdom, France and the US were pushing opiates successful the different absorption successful a bid to grow their power done trade.
The imperial powers were facing a commercialized imbalance with China owed to precocious request successful the West for Chinese goods specified arsenic tea, porcelain and silk.
Desperate to reverse this imbalance, British merchants began to smuggle Indian-grown opium into confederate China. Soon, American traders had besides turned to opium to boost their ain exports to China.
In 1839, Chinese forces attempted to ace down connected the inflow of opium, confiscating and destroying it and marking the opening of the First Opium War. The British and Chinese engaged successful naval struggle and the British emerged victorious successful 1842. While the US did not militarily prosecute successful the war, American traders were progressive successful China and brought constricted amounts of opium from Turkiye and India.
In 1844, the US and China signed the Treaty of Wanghia, their archetypal pact together. While this pact ostensibly outlawed the opium trade, successful practice, it opened up 5 ports for Western-Chinese commercialized successful Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai, enabling US traders to grow their income of opium.
The Second Opium War took spot 20 years later, from 1856 to 1860. French and British forces fought with diplomatic assistance from Russia and extortion from American forces. Under pressure, China was forced to motion a pact legalising opium, 1 of Britain’s main demands.
1960s-1970s: In Laos during the Vietnam War
Between 1955 and 1975, the US was engaged successful equipped struggle successful Vietnam and parts of neighbouring Laos and Cambodia successful a warfare betwixt the communist North Vietnam, backed by the Soviet Union and China, and anti-communist South Vietnam, backed by the US.
During this time, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ran covert operations successful Laos, which is northwest of Vietnam, to antagonistic communist forces successful Southeast Asia.
In Laos, CIA officers trained militias from Indigenous tribes specified arsenic the Hmong radical successful the mountainous north, according to a 2003 document published by the CIA, to combat against North Vietnamese forces successful Laos, arsenic good arsenic against Laotian communists, the Pathet Lao.
At the time, the Hmong were heavy economically reliant connected the cultivation of opium poppies arsenic a currency crop.
According to historiographer Alfred W McCoy, who wrote the 1972 book, The Politics of Heroin successful Southeast Asia, the CIA covertly operated an hose called Air America to transport opium from distant upland areas to beryllium sold successful Southeast Asia and planetary markets, including the US. The proceeds were utilized to enactment the militias.
McCoy presented the findings of his publication during a 1972 legislature grounds earlier a Senate subcommittee. The CIA has ne'er formally admitted nonstop engagement successful the cause operation.
A Hmong militia during the US’s ‘Secret War’ successful Laos, successful 1961 [File: History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images]1980s: During the Soviet-Afghan War
The Soviet service invaded Afghanistan successful 1979 to enactment a communist authorities that was facing interior threats. Between 1979 and 1989, the Soviet Union fought Afghan rebel fighters, the mujahideen.
Poppy cultivation thrived successful mujahideen‑held provinces specified arsenic Helmand successful confederate Afghanistan and Nangarhar successful eastbound Afghanistan. Historians, including McCoy, allege that CIA-backed mujahideen fighters financed overmuch of their warfare efforts done opium cultivation and trafficking. Trafficking routes went done Pakistan and Iran, feeding some European and Middle Eastern markets.
The Soviet-Afghan War resulted successful 1 of the sharpest spikes successful planetary heroin proviso successful the precocious 1980s. A UNODC study successful 2001 recovered that successful 1999, Afghanistan was producing 79 percent of planetary amerciable opium.
A CIA study from 1986 besides alleges that determination was wide usage of drugs among Soviet troops successful Afghanistan, and that those soldiers smuggled drugs backmost to the Soviet Union.
The CIA has ne'er publically admitted to backing opium cultivation and trafficking successful Afghanistan.
Afghan mujahideen fought the Soviet penetration of Afghanistan during the 1980s [File: Pascal Manoukian/Sygma via Getty Images]1980s: Post-Afghan War spillover successful Pakistan
Following the Soviet penetration of Afghanistan successful 1979, the CIA partnered with Pakistan’s Inter‑Services Intelligence (ISI) to limb the Afghan mujahideen arsenic portion of Operation Cyclone.
The warfare system boosted heroin accumulation successful Afghanistan’s Golden Crescent portion – the portion spanning Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. Pakistan’s tribal belt, particularly provinces Balochistan and modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, became transit corridors for heroin exports to the West.
1980s: The Iran-Contra Affair
From the 1950s until the 1980s, the CIA backed section efforts to clamp down connected communist forces successful Latin America.
In Nicaragua, the CIA backed a right-wing radical called the Contras, who were warring the left-wing Cuba-backed Sandinista authorities during the 1980s. In 1985, then-US President Ronald Reagan heaped praise connected the Contras, calling them “the motivation equivalent of our founding fathers”.
However, this each took spot against the backdrop of different warfare overseas that the US took an involvement in.
From 1980 to 1988, Iran and Iraq fought a war, which began with Iraq’s penetration of Iran. In 1985, Iran secretly requested to bargain weapons from the US. At this time, an arms embargo prevented the US from openly selling weapons to Iran.
The Reagan medication nevertheless sold Iran the weapons truthful that the US could fortify its presumption successful the Middle East and unafraid the merchandise of American hostages, mostly diplomats and missionaries, who were being held by Hezbollah successful Lebanon.
While Reagan had initially publically denied selling weapons to Iran, helium aboriginal admitted that the weapons had been sold to unafraid the hostages’ release.
Around the aforesaid time, the US Congress passed the Boland Amendment, which restricted US engagement successful overseas countries and banned US backing for the Contras. To get astir this, members of the National Security Council diverted profits from the Iran arms income to money the Contras without legislature approval.
In his 1998 book, Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion, US investigative writer Gary Webb traced links betwixt Contra supporters and the ace cocaine epidemic successful Los Angeles.
Webb wrote that a radical affiliated with the Contras smuggled cocaine into the US, which was past sold arsenic ace cocaine successful Los Angeles – yet triggering the epidemic. The funds generated were past utilized to enactment the Contras. Webb claimed that the CIA knew astir these transactions and backed them.
Boston feminists march extracurricular the bureau of the Central Intelligence Agency connected Winter Street successful Boston to protestation against the warfare successful Nicaragua connected March 2, 1986 [Tom Landers/The Boston Globe via Getty Images]1970s-1980s: During the Manuel Noriega era
Manuel Noriega was a subject dictator who ruled Panama from 1983 to 1989.
Noriega had been a CIA informant and plus since the 1960s. He shared quality with the US astir Latin American governmental movements, arsenic good arsenic Soviet and Cuban activities successful the region.
Simultaneously, Noriega is alleged to person been a facilitator for Colombian cause cartels, peculiarly the cocaine ring, the Medellin Cartel, enabling the shipment of cocaine done Panama. At the time, Medellin was said to beryllium liable for much than fractional of the cocaine smuggled into the US, according to section media reports.
Noriega’s quality practice with US agencies continued until helium was indicted successful 1988 by the US Justice Department connected aggregate charges, including cause trafficking, racketeering and wealth laundering.
Ousted Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is shown successful this Justice Department mug changeable [File: Bettmann/Getty Images]1980s-1990s: In Haiti during the coup period
During the precocious 1980s to mid‑1990s, Haitian authorities were mired successful turmoil. A succession of coups, subject rulers and short‑lived antiauthoritarian governments destabilised the country.
During this time, respective Haitian subject and constabulary officials with ties to CIA quality networks were accused of facilitating cocaine trafficking into the US.
These officers allegedly worked arsenic intermediaries for Colombian cartels, utilizing Haiti arsenic a larboard of transshipment for cocaine into Florida and different parts of the US.
Have US soldiers been accused of cause trafficking?
Yes, determination person been instances erstwhile US soldiers person been accused of trafficking drugs.
This year, investigative newsman Seth Harp’s book, The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder successful the Special Forces, was published, revealing details astir murders, cause trafficking and heavy corruption among US Special Forces astatine Fort Bragg implicit the past decade.
In 2023, astatine slightest 17 work members of the United States Forces Korea (USFK) were arrested for smuggling drugs successful South Korea. There has not been a nationalist update astir this.
In 2005, 4 US soldiers who were connected an anti-narcotics ngo successful Colombia were held connected cause trafficking charges aft 15kg (35lb) of cocaine was recovered connected their subject aircraft. There has not been a nationalist update astir this.
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