OPINION:
The prevailing narrative linking Venezuela, drugs and U.S. military posture does not withstand scrutiny.
This is not about ideology; it’s not even primarily about drugs. It’s about geography.
We are told that Venezuela poses a growing national security threat because of narcotics trafficking, but the facts point elsewhere. The drug devastating American communities today is fentanyl, and it enters overwhelmingly through Mexico, using precursor chemicals sourced largely from China.
Cocaine reaching the United States is produced mainly in Colombia and trafficked north through Central America and Mexico. Venezuela is not the primary route, nor even a significant one.
The real narcotics corridors run through Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras. Those countries, not Venezuela, form the dominant pipeline feeding America’s drug crisis.
So an obvious question follows: Would the United States deploy one of the largest concentrations of naval and air power in nearly 30 years to interdict a handful of drug-running boats?
Consider the scale involved: a carrier strike group led by the USS Gerald R. Ford, multiple destroyers, an amphibious ready group with Marines, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, special operations platforms, reactivated bases in Puerto Rico, advanced aircraft, drones and nearly 15,000 personnel.
That is not a counter-narcotics mission. It’s a strategic military posture.
The explanation that fits lies elsewhere. In March, Russia finalized a military cooperation agreement with Cuba, establishing joint training, arms transfers and the potential revival of Russian military facilities, including signals intelligence sites. Russian analysts described the move as retaliation for U.S. weapons supplied to Ukraine.
Then, in June, Russian naval vessels, including a Yasen-M class nuclear submarine, entered Cuban waters, operating roughly 90 miles from Key West.
This is where ideology fades and geography becomes decisive.
Cuba sits at the mouth of the Gulf of America. Every major shipping lane feeding U.S. ports, energy exports, refineries and naval installations passes through that space. Proximity compresses reaction time and magnifies vulnerability.
That is why Cuba has never been treated like just another aligned regime. Geography elevates it into a strategic category of its own, just as it did in 1962.
Ideology may shape rhetoric, but geography shapes outcomes. Ignoring that distinction is a luxury the United States can no longer afford.
CARLOS L. VALDES
Pembroke Pines, Florida
Please read our comment policy before commenting.