President Donald Trump announced on June 12 that the U.S. military had carried out an airstrike that killed Hector Rustenford Guerrero Flores, also known as Niño Guerrero, the leader of the Venezuelan prison organization Torren de Aragua.
“At my direction, U.S. Southern Command conducted a swift and deadly kinetic attack that successfully executed Nino Guerrero, the infamous leader of Torren de Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty terrorist organizations on Earth,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social Friday night.
“This action is closely coordinated with our friends in Venezuela, and we are very cooperative.”
President Trump did not say when the attack took place.
Venezuela’s Ministry of Information did not respond to requests for comment.
The Trump administration has repeatedly sanctioned Guerrero and other leaders of the Torren de Aragua organization for their alleged involvement in criminal activities such as drug smuggling, human trafficking and money laundering.
The State Department has designated Torren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization.
President Trump claimed that Torren de Aragua was coordinating U.S. activities with President Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuelan government. The Trump administration cited this connection to justify deporting some U.S. immigrants to high-security prisons in El Salvador.
The White House, Pentagon and US Southern Command did not respond to requests for comment.
Reporting by Christian Martinez and Jasper Ward. Editing: Sergio Non, Kim Cogill
