The US military build-up in the Caribbean is not about drug smuggling, Professor of US and International Studies at the UCD Clinton Institute Scott Lucas has told Behind the Story.
In recent days, the world's largest aircraft carrier - the USS Gerald Ford - arrived off the coast of Venezuela for what the US says is to help counter drug trafficking in the region.
Prof Lucas said if the US is targeting drug suppliers, there are other places it should look to.
"This is not primarily a contest against drug smuggling," he said.
"Venezuela is not a major producer of cocaine - the major producers of cocaine in South America are Colombia, Bolivia [and] Peru.
"It is not a major producer of fentanyl; the leading producer of fentanyl is Mexico.
"There may be some transport of drugs across Venezuela - either to reach the Atlantic side or the Pacific side - but it is not in itself a hub for drug production flooding the United States - that is a fiction."
Prof Lucas said recent US strikes on boats in the region have presented no evidence that the people killed on those boats are involved in drugs.
"We've had 20 strikes now acknowledged by the Trump administration, we have had 80 people who have been killed in that," he explained.
"There has never been any evidence produced that any of those 80 people were involved in drug smuggling."
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Regime change?
Prof Lucas believes the real reason behind the US operation is regime change, and that the Trump administration is eager to remove President Nicolás Maduro.
Prof Lucas said Washington needs to decide how far it is willing to go in Venezuela.
"At this point, the Trump administration is risking boxing itself into a very interesting position: if you do not get that rising in Venezuela to push out Maduro, how far will you go with the use of force?"
Prof Lucas said the next step is unclear as the US government is unpredictable.
"The challenge of analysing the Trump administration is they don’t play by the rules of the game," he said.
"They don’t play by international law; they don’t play by working with allies."
Evelyn O’Rourke and Maggie Doyle also discuss Ireland’s win over Portugal at the Aviva Stadium and also how TikTok is branching out.
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