you bring up a good point and something i was thinking about last night, why didnt Trump do this with mexico first? theyre literally our neighbor and lets be 100% honest - if drugs are coming into the USA, theyre coming in from mexico. where they are manufactured is entirely irrelevant if your border is shit. this isnt about drugs though its about oil.
Iraq/Afghanistan 2.0
Mexico is a tougher nut to crack from a public perception standpoint and the shared border means more potential consequences - the drugs come through Mexico but with the now secured border that vector has been diminished (but still a large problem). Columbia is also a problem as it's the pipeline for South American grown drugs like cocaine. Taking Venezuela doesn't stop this but it does stop the sea to coast pipeline which was highlighted by Trump's numerous strikes on the drug boats (nurturing a public perception against Venezuela). If we see alot of propaganda highlighting drugs coming through Mexico in the near future then a toppling of Mexico will be imminent.
Oil is a massive part of this of course though, Venezuela is swimming in it - if this doesn't translate to a large economic windfall it will lose credibility