Task: Trump's attacks - to avenge loss
Updated 00.27 | Published 00.10
Donald Trump says he wants to save American lives with the attacks on Venezuela.
But now another reason is also suspected.
Revenge.
President Maduro is the boss of a drug cartel that floods the United States with drugs - and the country "releases its most dangerous people from prisons and mental hospitals" so that they can cross the border illegally.
This is how Trump and the White House have often justified the military escalation against Venezuela and the country's authoritarian leader.
Another reason behind the attacks
But there may be more behind it – as one of Donald Trump's posts on Truth Social suggests, writes The Guardian.
And it goes back to the 2020 election loss and the huge operation launched by people close to Trump to try to prove that the election was stolen.
A leading conspiracy theory concerned the machines that registered the votes. It accused Venezuela of having controlled the companies that own the machines and used its power to change votes to the candidate that the country preferred.
According to the theory, this was how Joe Biden was able to win the presidential election.
"Must focus our energy"
Venezuela's connection to the US election was dismissed outright, and in 2023 a judge also ruled that the allegations were completely baseless.
But now the theory seems to have taken hold again in the White House.
On Sunday, Trump shared an episode of a podcast with right-wing profile Lara Logan. In the podcast, she interviews former CIA officer Gary Berntsen, who claims to have evidence that the conspiracy theory surrounding Venezuela is real.
"We must focus all our energy and power on ELECTION FRAUD," Trump wrote in his post.
The Guardian also recently revealed that officials from the Justice Department's task force investigating criminal connections to Venezuela's leadership interviewed Berntsen and other people who claim to have evidence of election fraud.
“Trump knows”
– I do not deal in conspiracy theories. I have spent my life defending our country and constitution. I have led many major operations and investigations and saved many lives, Berntsen tells The Guardian.
– The Department of Justice, the FBI and key people within the White House are investigating and coordinating efforts to defend our system and prosecute and hold accountable those who are guilty of stealing elections and violating other laws.
Berntsen’s close ally Ralph Pezzullo has been in contact with federal prosecutors about the allegations.
– Venezuela has attacked the US with vote counting machines and drugs. Trump knows they must be stopped, he tells The Guardian.
Help to motivate a war
David M Rowe, a professor of political science and national security expert, tells the newspaper that the old conspiracy theory may have been dusted off to motivate the president's supporters to support a war against Venezuela.
- Who knows how the process works inside the White House, he says.
He believes that Trump's base in the Maga movement does not think that operations against "drug terrorists" are a strong enough reason to enter a new military conflict, Rowe tells The Guardian.
- An attack on the US electoral system is stronger. If he can motivate people within Maga to interfere in the US political system, it is a stronger reason for war.
Many killed
Recently, tensions between the countries have almost reached the breaking point after the US military blew up more than 20 suspected drug boats off the coast of Venezuela. More than 80 people have been killed in the attacks.
Trump has justified the operation by saying that it saves Americans from dying from drug overdoses, even though most overdoses in the country are caused by drugs smuggled in, mainly from Mexico.
The US had already mobilized 10,000 soldiers in the region before the country's largest aircraft carrier, the Gerald R Ford, arrived in the Caribbean with another 5,000 soldiers and more than 75 aircraft on board.
Last night, American strategic bombers were reported to be flying near the Venezuelan coast.
The opposition leader in secret
Several airlines have stopped flying to Venezuela after the US Federal Aviation Administration warned against flights over the country's territory.
Maduro has responded to the US escalation by putting the country on war alert.
While Trump's reasons for increasing threats against Venezuela are, to say the least, questioned both internationally and domestically.
The opposition is forced to stay hidden or has gone into exile due to harassment and violence.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado Parisca, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December, remains in hiding within the country.
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