Senior national security officials of the United States said on Wednesday that military operations against cartels would continue, paving the way for a supported military campaign in Latin America, even if fundamental questions on a deadly strike against a venezuela ship remained unanswered.
The American army killed 11 people on Tuesday in a strike on a venezuela ship would have borne illegal narcotics, in the first operation known since the recent deployment of warships by President Donald Trump in the South of the Caribbean.
Little is known about the strike, including the legal justification used or the drugs on board, but the US defense secretary Pete Hegseth said that the operations would continue.
“We have active in the air, active in water, assets on ships, because it is a serious mission fatal for us, and that will not stop with this strike,” said Hegseth on Fox & Friends.
“Any other traffic in these waters we know is an designated narco terrorist will face the same fate,” said Hegseth.
He refused to provide details on how the operation was carried out, saying that they were classified. It is not known whether the ship was destroyed using a drone, a torpedo or another means.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Mexico City, said similar strikes will happen again.
“Perhaps this happens right now, I don’t know, but the fact is that the President of the United States will wage war against Narco terrorist organizations,” said Rubio.
Trump said on Tuesday, without providing proof, that the US military had identified the ship’s crew as members of the Venezuelan gang Tren from Aragua, which Washington appointed a terrorist group in February.
On Wednesday, he told journalists from the oval office that “massive amounts of drugs” had been found on the boat.
“We have records that speak,” said Trump. “It was a massive amount of drugs entering our country to kill many people. And everyone understands it perfectly. In fact, you see it, you see the drug bags all over the boat,” said Trump.
The Pentagon did not publish details on the crew or why it chose to kill them on board.
The presidents of the two main American parties have affirmed in the past the power to use the military for limited strikes when there is a threat to the United States, as Trump did in June when he ordered an attack on Iran.
Rubio said that “a boat full of cocaine or fentanyl” was an immediate threat to the United States, adding that Trump had the right to “eliminate him (this one) in demanding circumstances”.
Mary Ellen O’Connell, expert in international law and the use of force at the University of Notre Dame, said that Tuesday’s operation “had violated the fundamental principles of international law”.
“The alleged fact that the attack was against the high seas is not relevant. What is relevant is that the United States was not allowed to intentionally kill these suspects,” she said.
Maduro “should be worried”
The decision to explode an alleged drug vessel passing through the Caribbean, instead of seizing the ship and apprehending its crew, is very unusual and evokes memories of the American struggle against militant groups such as Al-Qaeda.
The United States has deployed warships in the South Caribbean in recent weeks, to continue a commitment from Trump to repress drug cartels.
Seven American warships and a rapid nuclear propulsion attack submarine is either in the region, or which should be there soon, transporting more than 4,500 sea and sea. The American navies and sailors of the 22nd marine shipping unit carried out amphibious training and flight operations in the south of Puerto Rico.
Asked about the close relationship of Venezuela with China, Hegseth was aimed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“The only person who should worry is Nicolas Maduro, who is … indeed a working ankle of a state of drug Narco,” said Hegseth.
The Trump administration last month doubled the award for information leading to the arrest of Maduro at $ 50 million, accusing it of links with drug trafficking and criminal groups.
Venezuelan officials said that Caribbean accumulation is supposed to justify an intervention against them, with Maduro accusing Trump of asking for a “regime change”.
In an interview with Fox Noticias on Wednesday, the chief of the Venezuelan opposition Maria Corina Machado supported the American strike, claiming that the operation “was aimed at saving lives” in Venezuela and the United States.
“We must be grateful that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and his administration recognize and act towards Maduro as what he is: the head of a narco-terrorist regime which was responsible for destroying our country, destabilizing the region and becoming a real threat to the security of the United States,” said Machado. It has been excluded from presenting itself to the 2024 presidential elections, but is the most popular opposition figure in the country.
The authorities of the South American country, who say that Tren de Aragua is no longer active after being dismantled during a prison raid in 2023, suggested on Tuesday that images shared by Trump of a speed boat exploding and then combustion were created with artificial intelligence.
Reuters carried out initial video checks, including an examination of its visual elements using a manipulation detection tool that has not shown proof of handling. However, in -depth verification is a process in progress, and Reuters will continue to examine the images as more and more information becomes available.
The strike attracted the skepticism of some within the Venezuelan opposition.
“How did they know that there were 11 people? They counted them? How did they know that they were Venezuelans? Their identity cards floated on the sea afterwards?” The former opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles told Reuters.
