Bombs, sanctions, drug charges: US Troika of Regime Change

Everyone knows the US uses bombs to effect regime change. We didn’t bomb Afghanistan and Iraq to send a wakeup call to their rulers. We did it to remove them and put in our designated puppets. Some know we use economic sanctions to get the same result. That method alone never works, such as the case with Iran. It doesn’t because the populous of any country so sanctioned will never do America’s bidding regardless of how unpopular the targeted leaders.

But few know of a third US method of regime change…drug trafficking charges. US Attorney General Bill Barr filed drug trafficking charges against Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro last month. Barr added a $15,000,000 bounty for Maduro’s capture and return to the US. Once out of the way, the US can install their designated puppet, capitalism friendly Juan Guaido to protect US interests in Venezuela. The US has been sanctioning Venezuela for twenty years now, starting with the hated Hugo Chavez, who died of natural causes before Uncle Sam could topple him. Since his successor Maduro is also a dedicated socialist, the US simply refuses to recognize him, backing US friendly Guaido instead.

But since sanctions aren’t working, the US pulled out an old chestnut from 1988, drug trafficking charges. Back then we turned on long time Panamanian leader and CIA helper Manual Noriega, indicting him on drug charges we winked at during his long tenure moonlighting for the CIA. When that didn’t work, we invaded Panama with 27,000 troops, killed a thousand Panamanians, left 20,000 homeless before nabbing Noriega. The US official who greenlighted this illegal, immoral invasion was Bill Barr, who, as George H.W. Bush’s head of the Office of Legal Counsel, wrote a legal memo condoning it against every precept of international law

Thirty-one years later, Barr, now Attorney General, has reprised drug trafficking charges in a desperate attempt to remove Maduro. As a sign that’s not going to work, the US has sent a naval armada to the Caribbean and US officials says military action is not ruled out.

America’s Troika of Regime Change, military invasion, economic sanctions, drug trafficking charges always return to Plan A for success…military invasion.