The drug war angle on Venezuela was only a fig leaf to hide the true objectives: regime change and oil grab. From Dave DeCamp at antiwar.com:
The Trump administration is working on a strategy to “eliminate” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to a report from POLITICO’s National Security Daily.
The report focused on US special envoy Ric Grenell, who was recently instructed to halt his diplomatic efforts with the Venezuelan government. Sources told NatSec Daily that they didn’t think the move meant Grenell was on the outs, but rather that the US was now focused on escalating its efforts to oust Maduro.
“The president is serious. No more mixed messages. No more excuses,” a person familiar with the Trump administration’s thinking told NatSec Daily. “There is now a coherent whole-of-government strategy to eliminate Cartel de los Soles and its leader.”
The “Cartel de los Soles” is a term used to describe a network of Venezuelan government officials allegedly involved in drug trafficking. The group does not actually exist as an organization, but the US has declared it a “terrorist” group and has claimed Maduro is its leader.
Maduro and other Venezuelan officials have strongly denied the US allegations, pointing to data that shows the majority of the cocaine that is produced in Colombia doesn’t go through Venezuela.
Noticing is big in Venezuela as well.
You could say they are world leaders.