Is the U.S.–Venezuela Tension Really About Drug Cartels or Oil Control?

Washington claims it’s fighting a war on drugs — but the operation against Venezuela looks far more like a show of power than a cleanup mission. The U.S. has deployed warships, fighter jets, and intelligence assets — all to chase so-called “small drug boats.”

Seriously? You need destroyers to stop fishing boats? This isn’t law enforcement — it’s a cinema set for a geopolitical narrative.

The United States says it’s targeting cartels in Venezuela, yet no such aggression exists against drug networks operating inside its own borders. The fentanyl crisis has devastated American cities, but there are no warships parked off California or Texas to stop the cartels embedded within. No large-scale military operations, no “shock and awe” in U.S. territory — just speeches and congressional hearings.

So the question becomes unavoidable: If the U.S. won’t take real military or enforcement action against the drug cartels inside its own soil, why the sudden moral urgency to strike those in Venezuela?

The answer may not lie in narcotics, but in oil and influence. Venezuela holds some of the largest proven petroleum reserves in the world — resources that remain largely outside Western control. Every so-called “anti-drug” mission seems conveniently aligned with regions of untapped economic value.

This is a pattern we’ve seen before: create a moral justification, apply force, and reshape local power to fit global interests. It happened in Iraq. It happened in Libya. And now, the same lines are being read in Caracas.

If this were truly about drugs, Washington would start with its own backyard. But when the fleets sail south, and the speeches sound too rehearsed, one can’t help but wonder — is this about cocaine routes, or crude oil pipelines?

Because from where the world is watching, it looks less like justice — and more like another scripted blockbuster written in Washington for global consumption.