Is the US right to highlight Venezuela for its role in the illegal drug trade?

The majority of cocaine seizures across Latin America and the Caribbean are concentrated in a handful of countries. Colombia and Ecuador have led by a wide margin for decades, followed by transit hubs such as Panama and Brazil. Venezuela sits further down the list. Across all the countries shown here, it accounted for 3.6 per cent of all cocaine confiscated. So, why does the US administration regard it as a major drug trafficking threat?

In recent months, President Donald Trump has repeatedly linked the Nicolas Maduro government to a so-called narcotics empire, explicitly blaming Venezuela for the drug-related deaths of American citizens.

However, the drug disproportionately driving the majority of overdose deaths in the United States is fentanyl, not cocaine. Fentanyl is produced almost entirely in Mexico using chemicals sourced mainly from China, according to US authorities. Venezuela plays no known role in that trade, nor does any other South American country.

Pressure on Caracas nonetheless intensified in September last year, when US forces attacked small vessels that Washington claimed were transporting drugs from Venezuela towards the US.

The strikes were framed as part of an armed conflict with drug cartels, with the White House vowing to dismantle trafficking networks. Many believe Trump is really after the oil in Venezuela, and the drug trafficking threats are being used to go after the vast reserves. However, many have questioned the legitimacy of those operations.

That confrontation escalated further in recent days, when US authorities moved to arrest Mr Maduro, and now he has been charged with cocaine trafficking to the US. The charges revive long-standing allegations that elements of the Venezuelan state provided protection to regional drug-smuggling networks.

Many believe Trump is really after the oil in Venezuela, and the drug trafficking threats are a pretext to go after the vast reserves. “We’re going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground,” Mr Trump told reporters after the seizure of Mr Maduro, promising that American companies would be able to tap more of Venezuela’s crude reserves.

And the drug trafficking data also points to Venezuela’s role in drug smuggling being exaggerated. The country is not a major producer of cocaine. Cultivation and processing remain concentrated in Colombia and neighbouring countries. From the perspective of seizures alone, Venezuela’s part in the regional cocaine trade is relatively small. The politics surrounding it, however, have become anything but.

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Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery

An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo

Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery

Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape

The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides

All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality

Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country

Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow

Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site

Green waste is recycled as compost

Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs

Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers

About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer

Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.

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1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

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3. More tax audits

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4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

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5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

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6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

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7. Limited time periods for audits

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9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

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Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

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Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”