US launches "lethal attack" on drug ship from Venezuela

WashingtonDonald Trump has announced that the United States attacked a ship from Venezuela: "We just fired on a ship carrying drugs," he said during an appearance in the Oval Office. Moments later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed this via a social media post: "Today the United States military conducted a lethal strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug ship departing from Venezuela and operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization." According to the president himself on the Truth Social network, the attack reportedly resulted in eleven deaths.

"This morning, at my direction, United States Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua narco-terrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility," Trump wrote, linking the criminal group to the Venezuelan president's government without evidence. The Republican specified that the attack occurred in "international waters" and claims it was transporting drugs to the United States. "Let this serve as a warning to anyone thinking of bringing drugs into the United States of America."

The action has been confirmed by sources from the Department of Defense, who say they carried out a "precision strike" against a vessel operated by a designated "narco-terrorist" organization near Venezuela.

The attack represents an unprecedented escalation amid tensions with Venezuela. The US has deployed a fleet of three ACS guided-missile destroyers, along with submarines and aircraft, off the borders of the Latin American country's waters. All of this is justified by an alleged operation to combat drug trafficking. "There's a lot of drugs coming into our country for a long time. And this was coming from Venezuela. There's a lot of stuff coming to us from Venezuela," Trump said Tuesday, without giving further details. The president had announced the operation during an event held at the White House to announce the transfer of the US Space Command from Colorado to Alabama.

Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations. The move raised alarm bells because it opened the door to military operations on foreign soil. In early August, the president secretly signed a directive authorizing the Pentagon to use military force against Latin American drug cartels, in accordance with the executive order that relabeled them as terrorist organizations, the report revealed. New York Times.

In response to the deployment of US military vessels in the Caribbean, Venezuela deployed troops to its border and called for the enlistment of militiamen and Venezuelans in case of a hypothetical foreign military incursion. On Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro issued the following warning: "If Venezuela were attacked, we would declare ourselves in armed struggle and a republic in arms."

Concern about a military intervention

"Venezuela faces the greatest threat our continent has seen in 100 years," Maduro told reporters. "There are eight warships, with 1,200 missiles, and a nuclear submarine aimed at Venezuela. It is an extravagant, immoral, and bloody threat. The maximum preparedness declared in Venezuela." According to the Pentagon, the three destroyers off Venezuelan waters are the USS Gravely, the USS Jason Dunham, and the USS Sampson.

Last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the United States is prepared to use "all elements of its power" to stop the flow of drugs across its borders and "bring those responsible to justice."

Concern over a possible military intervention is not exclusive to Venezuela: Mexico is also closely monitoring the decisions of the Pentagon and the Trump administration. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected the idea when the authorization for the deployment of US military personnel to combat drug trafficking became known. "The United States will not come to Mexico with its army," Sheinbaum said in early August. The Mexican president affirmed that her government had been informed of the executive order, but insisted: "It has nothing to do with the participation of any military force or any institution in our territory. There is no risk of them invading our territory."