12/22/25 Afternoon CommStock Report – What is Driving US Policy with Venezuela?

Illicit drugs are bad. Almost everyone agrees with that except maybe for those who use them and those who sell them to those that use them. Illicit drug use is like an infection of our society that doesn’t heal. If use is expansive enough it can make the entire country sick and as with most infections, if untreated, can be fatal. The stats show that over 22,000 Americans will die of a cocaine overdose and over three times that many will have died from fentanyl in 2025. The number of both of those deaths were down from previous years so that even the drug users are dealing with the lethality of their addiction. President Trump’s policies closing the southern border, declaring drug cartels as terrorist organizations and using the military to attack drug trafficking routes in the Caribbean have had some success in disrupting the drug trade. Overall, these actions have been viewed positively by Americans.   The primary production, processing and transport of cocaine is from Columbia, Venezuela and other close regional partners. Columbia’s government has battled its drug trade while Venezuela’s government has welcomed it, giving it sanctuary, gaining a revenue stream from it. It is one of…