Maduro condemns Trump’s threat of ground attack
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has condemned Trump’s threat of a ground attack after the United States seized an oil tanker near Venezuela.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Southern Command announced Monday, December 15, that eight people were killed in attacks on three ships in international waters.
“Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was sailing along known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and engaged in drug trafficking,” the military said in a post to X.
The United States has attacked more than 20 ships in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela as part of a military operation launched by President Donald Trump against drug smuggling from the region. At least 90 suspected drug smugglers were killed in the process.
The use of the military to attack drug smuggling vessels marks a significant departure from the way the United States has historically dealt with drug ships. The Trump administration has sought to defend the legality of the airstrikes, which some legal experts say amount to illegal extrajudicial killings.
“Our operations in the Southcom region are lawful under both U.S. and international law, and all actions comply with the laws of armed conflict,” Pentagon spokesman Kingsley Wilson told reporters earlier this month.
The airstrike is seen as a precursor to a U.S. ground attack on Venezuela that President Trump has said will begin soon.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Caitlin Webber)
