How Lies, Pardons, and Oil Are Driving Trump’s New War
Recently, the wife of Alejandro Carranza, a destitute Colombian fisherman was killed when a U.S. Navy strike obliterated the small wooden boat from which Carranza was working. The order, according to multiple individuals with direct knowledge of the mission, came from none other than Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s newly installed “Director of War.” Hegseth publicly insisted the vessel was a Venezuelan drug-running boat, parroting the administration’s familiar talking points about “narco-terrorist” threats. But on the ground—and in the water—the reality was far different: it was a fishing skiff, and Carranza was fishing.
Since this escalation began, the U.S. government has provided no independent, verifiable evidence that the boats destroyed in these missions were drug-running vessels of any kind. None. Major news outlets and fact-checkers have repeatedly reported that officials have failed to release documentation regarding the boats’ ownership, registration, or cargo evidence that would be trivial to provide if the administration’s story were legitimate. Instead, the public is fed only assertions and carefully selective imagery or video clips, hand-picked by the same officials who refuse to substantiate their claims.
The Official Line—And the Convenient Blindfold
The White House, Trump, and senior national security officials continue to describe the destroyed vessels as “drug boats” supposedly departing from Venezuela and allegedly tied to cartels or terrorist organizations. These statements cite classified intelligence, intelligence they refuse to declassify, share, or allow independent verification of. In other words: Just trust us. And predictably, Trump’s supporters do exactly that, demanding no evidence beyond the word of their “commander in liar.”
Yet accounts from individuals directly involved in one of the missions tell a much darker story. They claim Hegseth issued a pre-operation directive that “the order was to kill everybody.” According to these insiders, that guidance directly shaped how the strike unfolded. Even more disturbing, they report that when drone footage revealed two survivors clinging to the wreckage, a Joint Special Operations commander ordered a follow-up strike to finish the job specifically to comply with Hegseth’s directive. Those survivors were killed in the water.
The administration, of course, denies all of it. Trump reflexively declared that he “believes Hegseth,” brushing off the allegations without even pretending to consider an investigation. Why? Because a real investigation—one conducted by a credible international body with no political allegiance—might very well lead to indictments. Trump knows it. Hegseth knows it. And MAGA, as always, does not care.
The Hypocrisy: Blowing Up Fishermen While Freeing Cartel Kings
All of this carnage is justified under the banner of “fighting drugs.” But if Trump were truly concerned about drug trafficking, one might ask why he just pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras and one of the most notorious drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere. U.S. prosecutors described Hernández as being at the center of a massive cocaine conspiracy responsible for moving hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States. He was convicted in 2024 on cocaine importation and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison.
Yet Trump pardoned him in December 2025.
So much for being tough on narco-traffickers. The administration that claims blowing up fishermen is necessary to stop drugs somehow found it appropriate to release a man who oversaw cocaine flows that helped fuel addiction, violence, and death across the U.S. The hypocrisy is staggering even by Trump-era standards.
The Manufactured “Threat” from Venezuela
So why, exactly, has Venezuela suddenly been elevated to the status of existential American threat?
For years, Trump has targeted President Nicolás Maduro, beginning with the 2019 regime-change push when the U.S. recognized opposition figure Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s “legitimate” president. Trump labeled Maduro a socialist dictator who dismantled democratic institutions, a charge Maduro denies. Maduro, meanwhile, portrays Trump as a right-wing imperialist bent on toppling Venezuela’s Bolivarian government, seizing control of its resources, and breaking the nation economically through sanctions.
Under Trump, the U.S. dramatically intensified sanctions against Venezuela’s government, military, and state oil company, resulting in severe economic hardship and isolating the Maduro regime from global finance. The U.S. also indicted Maduro and top Venezuelan officials on drug-trafficking and corruption charges, accusations the Venezuelan government calls fabricated and politically motivated.
Now, in Trump’s current term, the administration’s rhetoric has escalated sharply. Officials claim Venezuela is sheltering major drug cartels and serving as a primary conduit for cocaine headed to the United States. But experts note that Venezuela itself is not a major drug-producing nation, it is, at most, a transit point. Colombia and Peru produce the cocaine. Venezuela’s supposed new role as the hemispheric narco-villain appears convenient rather than factual.
And when one considers Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world, the political motivations become even harder to ignore.
Oil, Power, and a Manufactured War
Venezuela currently produces just under a million barrels of crude per day. That’s modest compared to giants like the U.S. or Saudi Arabia, but still extremely valuable in both OPEC dynamics and regional geopolitics. Maduro has repeatedly accused Trump of plotting invasion, attempting coups, and trying to “steal Venezuela’s oil.” Given Trump’s history, it is not difficult to imagine the U.S. government painting Venezuela as the new narco-terrorist boogeyman to justify military intervention.
Meanwhile, as Trump and his allies posture, threaten, and salivate over foreign oil, a Colombian family is grieving. Alejandro Carranza, a man simply trying to feed himself and his family was killed in an operation carried out on the orders of a man with no accountability and no respect for international law. His crime? Being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His punishment? Death by drone, dismissed as collateral damage in a manufactured war.
This is what happens when political ambition, propaganda, and militarism collide. A fisherman dies. A cartel king walks free. And a president marches the country closer to yet another needless conflict, one that looks suspiciously like a resource grab masquerading as national security.
Why It Matters
Trump’s escalating “narco-war” isn’t about drugs—it’s about unchecked power, impunity, and resource extraction disguised as national security. When a U.S. president can kill civilians without evidence, pardon real cartel leaders, and manufacture threats to justify military intervention, democracy loses its last guardrails. This isn’t foreign policy—it’s authoritarian drift wrapped in a flag.
Key Takeaways
- No evidence exists that the boats destroyed by U.S. forces were drug vessels, none has been released despite repeated requests.
- Witnesses say the order was to “kill everybody,” including survivors clinging to wreckage.
- Trump pardoned an actual major drug trafficker, Juan Orlando Hernández, undercutting every claim of a drug-focused mission.
- Venezuela is not a drug-producing nation, yet Trump is framing it as the new narco-threat to justify escalation.
- Oil lies beneath the rhetoric: Venezuela holds the world’s largest reserves, making this “drug war” look like a resource-driven campaign.
- Civilians are dying, and Trump’s base demands no evidence, creating the perfect environment for an authoritarian foreign policy.
Further Reading
- The Shock Doctrine — Naomi Klein. How governments weaponize crises—manufactured or otherwise—for political and economic gain. https://civilheresy.com/the shock doctrine
- Drug War Capitalism — Dawn Paley. A deep dive into how the drug war narrative is used to justify militarization and extractive interests. https://civilheresy.com/drug war capitalism
- Manufacturing Consent — Edward S. Herman & Noam Chomsky. The definitive analysis of how media and governments craft narratives to shape public perception and justify state power.
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