WASHINGTON, Sept 16: President Donald Trump announced a US military strike on what he described as a Venezuelan drug cartel vessel headed toward the United States.
According to Al Jazeera, Trump said the attack, carried out in international waters on Monday, killed three men. He posted a video on Truth Social showing a small boat before it exploded, calling the targets “extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narco-terrorists.”
Al Jazeera stated that this was the second such strike in recent weeks, following an earlier attack that killed 11 people.
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These strikes have worsened tensions between Washington and Caracas. Venezuela accused the US of targeting “harmless” fishing boats, while critics raised concerns about international law and the extrajudicial nature of the killings. Some questioned why the alleged traffickers were not captured and prosecuted, Al Jazeera stated.
Trump was quoted by Al Jazeera as warning that further strikes were coming, writing, “BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!” When asked by reporters for proof the boat carried drugs, Trump claimed there were “big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place,” though the video he shared did not show drugs.
Trump admitted the attacks might be hurting Venezuela’s fishing industry, saying fishermen might now fear going to sea.
Tensions between the two countries have escalated since Trump sent eight warships near Venezuelan waters to pressure President Nicolas Maduro. The US accuses Maduro of running a cocaine trafficking cartel and recently doubled its reward for his capture to $50 million. Much of the international community rejected his 2024 re-election bid over allegations of fraud, according to the Doha-based news channel.
Al Jazeera quoted Maduro calling US Secretary of State Marco Rubio the “lord of death and war” and vowing that Venezuela would “fully” exercise its right to self-defense. Maduro has repeatedly accused Washington of trying to overthrow him.
Growing speculation that Washington could expand strikes to mainland Venezuela. When asked about this, Trump did not rule it out, saying, “We’ll see what happens. Venezuela is sending us their gang members, their drug dealers and drugs. It’s not acceptable,” the Qatari news outlet stated.
