Secretaries of Defense Pete Hegses and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have further promised military operations against drug cartels.
Trump says US troops killed 11 cartel suspects on a Caribbean strike
President Donald Trump has announced that the US forces killed 11 Tren de Aragua members on a naval strike during the escalation of their counter-drug operations.
- The US strike on September 2nd killed 11 people on a Venezuelan ship that is allegedly carrying drugs.
- The Pentagon has not released any details about its crew and why did it choose to kill the people on board?
- Mary Ellen O’Connell, an expert on international law and the use of force at Notre Dame, said the operation “violated the fundamental principles of international law.”
Mexico City – A senior US official said military operations against the cartels will continue and set the stage for a sustained military campaign in Latin America, despite basic questions about a fatal strike on ships from Venezuela remain unanswered.
On September 2, the US military killed 11 people in a strike on a ship from Venezuela, where President Donald Trump was the first known operation since the recent deployment of warships into the Southern Caribbean, killing 11 people in a ship strike from Venezuela allegedly carrying illegal drugs.
Little is known about the strike, including what legal justifications were used or which drugs were on board, but U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Heggs said the business would continue.
“We have assets in the air, assets in the water, assets in the water, and assets in ships. This is a deadly, serious mission for us, and this strike alone won’t stop,” Hegses said of Fox & Friends on September 3.
“We’ll face the same fate of being designated narcoterrorists in those waters we know,” Heggs said.
He refused to provide details about how the operations were performed, saying they were classified. It is unknown whether the vessel was destroyed using a drone, torpedo or other means.
Speaking in Mexico City, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a similar strike would “come again.”
“Maybe that’s what’s happening right now, but I don’t know, but the important thing is that the US president is going to go into a war with Narco terrorist organizations,” Rubio said.
Without providing evidence, Trump said on September 2, the US military identified the ship’s crew as members of Venezuelan gangster Tren de Aragua.
The next day, he told reporters in the oval office that “a massive amount of drugs” had been found on the boat.
“We’re talking about their tapes,” Trump said. “A lot of drugs have come to our country to kill a lot of people, and everyone understands it perfectly. In fact, you see it, you see a bag of drugs throughout the boat,” Trump said.
The Pentagon has not released any details about its crew and why did it choose to kill the people on board?
Presidents of both major political parties have insisted on the authority to use the military for a restricted strike when there was a threat to the United States in the past.
Rubio added that “boats filled with cocaine or fentanyl” are an immediate threat to the United States, and that Trump has the right to “eliminate (that) under exaggerated circumstances.”
Mary Ellen O’Connell, an international law expert and a use of force at the University of Notre Dame, said Tuesday’s operation “violated the fundamental principles of international law.”
“The fact that there was an attack on the high seas is irrelevant. What’s related is that the US had no right to intentionally kill these suspects,” she said.
Maduro, Venezuela, “You need to worry”
The decision to blow up a suspected drug ship through the Caribbean is very unusual, instead of seizing the ship and arresting the crew, and evoking memories of the US battle with extremist groups such as al-Qaeda.
The US has deployed warships in the southern Caribbean for recent weeks, with the aim of tracking Trump’s pledge to crack down on drug cartels.
Seven US warships and one nuclear-powered high-speed attack submarine are expected to be in the area or soon there, carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines. The US Marines and seafarers of the 22nd Marine Corps Expeditionary Force have conducted amphibious training and flight operations in southern Puerto Rico.
When asked about Venezuela’s close ties with China, Hegses targeted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.
“The only person to worry about is Nicolas Maduro. In effect, he’s a drug-narcotic kingpin,” Heggs said.
Last month, the Trump administration doubled the reward for information that led to Maduro’s arrest by $50 million, and denounced him for linking drug trafficking and criminal groups.
Venezuelan officials say the Caribbean accumulation is intended to justify intervention against them, and Maduro has accused Trump of seeking a “change of administration.”
The strike drew skepticism from some of Venezuelan opponents.
“How did they know there were 11 people? Did they count them? How did they know they were Venezuelans? Did their ID cards float in the sea after that?” Former opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles told Reuters.
