There Is No 'Imminent' Threat from Cartels
The administration is lying about the nature of the threat so that they can pretend that they are acting defensively.
The administration is dropping the pretense that it has any interest in a diplomatic solution with Venezuela:
President Trump has called off efforts to reach a diplomatic agreement with Venezuela, according to U.S. officials, paving the way for a potential military escalation against drug traffickers or the government of Nicolás Maduro.
Trump’s sporadic engagement with the Venezuelan government was never serious. Sending Ric Grenell to strike the occasional minor bargain was the most that the president was willing to do, and now even that pitiful approach has ended. The administration is stacked with Venezuela hawks and other hardliners, so there has never been much internal support for diplomacy. Venezuela has once again become a convenient target for the administration to lash out against and punish.