Skip to content
TrackPodcasts
newsSep 15, 202526:56pending

Donald Trump’s war on drug cartels

Front Burner

About this episode

Donald Trump has declared a war on drug cartels. He’s wielded the flow of narcotics, namely fentanyl, into the U.S. as one of the major reasons behind aspects of his global trade war. He’s added a number of cartels to the foreign terrorist organisations list. 


And last month, the Trump administration stepped things up by quietly signing a Pentagon directive to allow the use of military force against drug cartels. That led to a U.S. drone strike on a Venezuelan boat on international waters, killing all 11 on board. Now, the possibility of more attacks hangs over Venezuela and Mexico, another target of Trump’s cartel war. 


Alexander Aviña, an associate professor of Latin American history at Arizona State University joins us to talk about the impact of these recent escalations and what history tell us about how effective drug wars really are..


For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Get every episode summarized

Each time Front Burner publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.

Email me new episodes

Free for 3 shows. No card needed.

Hosts & guests

No transcript yet

This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.

Donald Trump’s war on drug cartels

Front Burner

0:00
26:56

More episodes

More from Front Burner

View all episodes →