Darrell Castle talks about the military actions taken by president Trump against the nation of Venezuela as well as some other South American and Latin American nations. Is stopping drug trafficking and importation of narcotics into the United States all there is to it?

Transcription / Notes

A NEW MONROE DOCTRINE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 24th day of October in the year of our Lord 2025. I will be talking about the military actions taken by President Trump against the nation of Venezuela as well as some other South and Latin American nations. I argue that there is more involved in these actions than an effort to stop drug trafficking and also assert that countering the import of narcotics into the United States is at best a side benefit of the action against those countries.

The original Monroe Doctrine has been the policy of the United States for a little over 200 years, but it has been more or less abandoned in recent years. Is Donald Trump trying to reassert that doctrine with his military efforts in the Western Hemisphere, I think he is and I will make my case today. First, let’s look at the Monroe Doctrine and what it was originally intended to be.

It was first formulated or at least spoken of by President James Monroe in 1823 during his state of the union address to congress. He laid out before congress a foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. Essentially, he just told the Europeans, and at the time Spain was the primary nation, that we will leave you alone in Europe and not interfere in your affairs and in return this hemisphere is off limits to you. Intervention in the affairs of nations in this hemisphere by foreign powers would potentially be treated as a hostile act against the United States. This doctrine was the grand foreign policy strategy during the 19th century.

The Spanish American War at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th was the capstone or high-water mark of that policy when the United States removed Spain from its last two remaining colonies in this hemisphere. The 20th century brought with it two world wars and an America victorious and willing to intervene anywhere and at anytime it wanted to. Instead of non-intervention in European affairs the U.S. now has in the neighborhood of 750 military bases on foreign soil all over the world.

The doctrine has been argued about and debated since the Spanish American War, but now everything is different and far more dangerous because of nuclear weapons and the reality that one mistake by one psychopathic leader could unleash a worldwide catastrophe. We also have a new war called the war on drugs that has been raging since President Nixon proclaimed it in the early 1970’s. That war has been fought, lost and fought again since then by almost every president since Nixon. Every president at least pays lip service to stopping the scourge of drugs coming into the United States. It seems that each time one drug is somewhat controlled a new, even worse one takes its place. Cocaine, fentanyl, and other synthetic opioids for example.

Unlike other presidents Trump seems to be approaching the problem as an actual war rather than using war as a turn of phrase. He has stated that the U.S. is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels he has designated as terrorist organizations. The Trump administration delivered that notice to congress after a strike on an alleged drug boat from Venezuela. There have been several strikes since then all against supposed drug boats. The scene is usually a high-speed boat carrying several people speeding across the Caribbean when a drone unleashes a hellfire missile and the boat and all its contents disappears.

Designating a group as a terrorist organization is more than just saying we don’t like those people. It deprives that group of many of the niceties of American law such as due process of law and its proponents argue that it permits the non-judicial killing of members of that group. You may recall that President Obama used it when he used to analyze and revise his kill list each Tuesday morning. He used it to kill an American citizen named Anwar al Awlaki somewhere in I believe North Africa, perhaps Somalia. He took a lot of heat for killing an American citizen without any due process but he just said he’s a member of Isis, a designated terrorist organization.

So, that’s how it works, if you are a member of an organization designated as terrorist you are fair game. That’s why designating Antifa as terrorist is so significant and why a few of the group’s members have apparently fled the country. So, an actual shooting war is being conducted against the drug cartels who are of course terrorists. The President of the United States has not limited his invectives to the cartels but has extended the attacks to include the leaders of other countries, at least with words.

The Attorney General, Pam Bondi, has accused President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela of heading up one of the world’s most notorious drug trafficking operations. She said his involvement in the drug trade is a direct threat to the national security of the United States. “He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security. Therefore, we’ve doubled his reward to $50 million.” Yes, the United States has officially, through its chief lawyer, its attorney general, put a reward on the life of the leader of a foreign country.

It has long been rumored or suspected that the drug cartels pay the leaders of South and Latin American countries in drugs such as cocaine instead of cash. That policy, if true, converts the leaders into drug traffickers because they must deliver the drugs to the end users in the United States, thus the drug boats. The administration said its report to congress was required by the National Defense Authorization Act after the U.S. conducts a military attack. The terrorist designation includes several known cartels such as Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, and El Salvador’s MS-13. The report said the drugs smuggled by these organizations kill tens of thousands of Americans each year and constitute an “armed attack” against U.S. citizens.

The U.S. forces remain positioned to carry out operations as necessary to prevent further deaths or injuries to American citizens by eliminating the threat posed by these terrorist designated organizations. So, in furtherance of that goal the United States has positioned a very powerful array of its armed forces in the Caribbean including many warships. Keep in mind that these ships are not Coast Guard cutters, but navy warships and on those ships and otherwise deployed are some 11,000 U.S. military personnel.

The president also announced that he has authorized the CIA to conduct operations inside Venezuela. That is in addition to eight warships, a nuclear-powered submarine, several B-52 strategic bombers and fighter jets. This display of military power is supposedly due to drug smuggling and illegal immigration into the United States. When I hear that I raise an eyebrow because it makes no sense to me. There is an economic term called ROI which is return on investment and I don’t see how this investment can be returned if that is the only reason.

Recently the admiral who commanded the Central Command or SOUTHCOM, admiral Alvin Holsey resigned from his position. Perhaps he had doubts about the legality of what he was ordered to do but the reason for his resignation is publicly unknown. The term resignation used by an officer of general rank is very significant because such officers simply do not resign, it just isn’t done. If he wanted to leave the service he would instead announce his retirement and if the navy was not in desperate need of his service his retirement would be approved.

A serving officer has no right to resign without approval. The military in which he serves could reject his resignation but the navy did not do that and his resignation, effective December 1st I believe, was quickly accepted. The whole process that transpired is very revealing but of what no one is saying. I know one thing and that is that his leaving his position was apparently welcomed by the navy. So, what in the world is going on down there. Let’s take a look at some possibilities.

I personally don’t think for a minute that this military display with all its threats is for the purpose of fighting a drug war. That part of it, if anything, is simply a side benefit. No, this is a reimposition of the Monroe Doctrine and this time it is not directed at Europe but China. President Trump is telling China, the Western Hemisphere is ours, we control it, so stay away. Maduro in Venezuela, and Gustavo Petro in Columbia are on notice that the U.S. is not going to permit China to continue dominating the economies and militaries in those countries. To Trump apparently that may require enacting regime change by force in those countries.

 There is an island just off the coast of Venezuela called Marguerita Island known colloquially as terror island because it is a training base for Middle East terror groups. I first heard of what was allegedly happening on that island from a report by Glen Beck who reported it on his podcast. Yes, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are alive and well allegedly, off the coast of Venezuela. These people are apparently trained, equipped and sent back to the Middle East to lead and conduct terror campaigns, and of course, some are transported into the U.S. If that were all it would be plenty but as usual it gets worse. Venezuela in particular but Columbia also are two countries with one of the largest deposits of petroleum and other valuable minerals on earth. Right now, the benefit of all that oil, rare earth minerals, etc. is going to China and Trump wants to see that change.

Using his usual method of negotiating he offers them the carrot and the stick. The stick is a $50 million bounty on their leader as well as ships full of U.S. Marines on their near shore and the CIA doing what it does in their cities. The carrot is that all of this display of what we can do to you goes away if you just do two things that are obviously in your best interest. Stop training terrorists and sell us your oil and minerals. In return your people will no longer live in poverty, your medical system will no longer be non-existent and your leaders will be a friend of the U.S. instead of having bounties on their heads.

Tensions are escalating and apparently none of these leaders will back down until it’s too late. The U.S. appears to be on the verge of air strikes inside Venezuela. Perhaps full-scale war can still be averted but we will have to wait and see folks. As you are painfully aware I’m opposed to non-defensive, regime change wars.

At least that’s the way I see it,

Until next time folks,

This is Darrell Castle,

Thanks for listening.