Senior US national security officials have confirmed that military operations against cartels will continue, following a deadly strike on a vessel from Venezuela. The US military killed 11 people in the strike, which allegedly targeted a vessel carrying illegal narcotics. The operation is the first known of its kind since President Donald Trump’s recent deployment of warships to the southern Caribbean.
Little is known about the specifics of the strike, including the legal justification used or the type and quantity of drugs on board. However, US officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have stated that similar operations will continue.
“Anyone else trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated narco terrorist will face the same fate,” Hegseth said. He declined to provide details on how the operation was carried out, stating that the information was classified. It is unknown whether the vessel was destroyed by a drone, torpedo, or some other means.
Speaking in Mexico City, Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that similar strikes would happen again. “Maybe it’s happening right now, I don’t know, but the point is the president of the United States is going to wage war on narco terrorist organizations,” Rubio said.
Legal and Political Reactions
The strike has raised legal and political questions. According to Mary Ellen O’Connell, an international law expert at the University of Notre Dame, the operation “violated fundamental principles of international law.” She said that the US had no right to intentionally kill the suspects, even if the attack occurred on the high seas.
However, the Trump administration has justified the action by stating that the vessel posed an immediate threat to the US. According to Trump, the crew were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which Washington had previously designated as a terrorist group. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado supported the US strike, saying the operation was “aimed at saving lives.”
The Venezuelan government, led by President Nicolas Maduro, has suggested that the video footage of the strike released by Trump was created with artificial intelligence. Venezuelan officials have repeatedly accused the US of using the pretext of combating drug trafficking to justify a military intervention for “regime change.” In response to the US military buildup in the Caribbean, Maduro has deployed troops along the coast and border with Colombia and has called on Venezuelans to join a civilian militia.
