Yes. This drama is far bigger than what it appears to be on the surface. It is a huge global chessboard with many players all jockeying for control of the board. Moves and countermoves. Besides the cartels, Iran and the CCP are heavily imbedded in Venezuela. Russia also has presence there. Way too damn close to continue allowing the systematic takeover of Latin America. Trump is pushing back saying ENOUGH and Trump has chosen Venezuela to make that stand with a huge show of force.

We can probably get an indication of which way the wind is blowing by watching what these other actors do. They just may end up abandoning Maduro and shift their resources and attention somewhere else. It's not like they don't have other places in Latin America where they can establish a beachhead.

The US for years has buried its head in the sand and ignored what has been taking place throughout the area. Think Panama. The US sat back while the CCP basically took control of the Canal along with other strategic choke points. It's not like China doesn't have a history of using these points as a weapon in order to get the US or other countries to knuckle under and capitulate. That has been part of their soft power strategy of global domination for years. Trump is trying to correct that. The CCP interfered with the deal that would have handed control of several ports, not just the Canal. I am not sure where the deal being made with CK Hutchison Holdings Limited stands for the moment. But from what I can see, at least where the Panama Canal is concerned, we will have to focus on pressuring the Panamanian government to use other legal means to get control back, which was a card on the table but in reserve if plan A didn't work. It will force Panama to get off the fence and choose a side - something we have been reluctant to do. China is heavily invested in Panama through BRI so there are huge financial and infrastructure considerations that the US has to be ready to step up and fill the gap if China is pushed out - something the US did not want to do.

So we will wait and see what happens in the future. Sadly we live in a globally connected world. The days of being able to exist isolated from things taking place around us are long gone. Nothing exists in a vacuum. If the US does not get involved, someone else will and they are.