Key Highlights
- Strikes near Venezuelan waters aimed at drug traffickers, sanctions and a $50 million bounty have so far been unsuccessful in forcing Maduro, whom the U. S.
- has designated as a leader of the Tren de Aragua drug cartel, to step down from power. After repeated threats, adversaries may now view a lack of direct military action as a sign of weakness from the U. S.
- But Maduro is in an equally difficult position — his own military capabilities are dwarfed in comparison to Trump’s, and experts say China and Russia lack the will to directly challenge the U. S.
- in its own hemisphere.
- Meanwhile, the clock is ticking: Trump’s unprecedented military buildup in the Caribbean — including sending the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the region — is taking away resources from other theaters.
