Venezuela accuses US Navy of illegally seizing fishing boat
Tensions continue in the Caribbean after Venezuela claims that an American citizen aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer illegally boarded a tuna fishing boat.
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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced on October 14 that his administration has ordered another military attack on ships carrying illegal drugs off the coast of Venezuela. This is the fifth such attack in the Caribbean since September.
President Trump announced that six male “narco-terrorists” on the boat were killed. In his post to X, President Trump attached a video showing an attack on a boat at sea ending in a fiery explosion.
“Intelligence officials have confirmed that this vessel is engaged in drug trafficking, is involved in an illegal narco-terrorism network, and was sailing along known DTO routes,” Trump said. “The airstrike took place in international waters, and six male narco-terrorists on board the ship were killed in the airstrike. There were no casualties to U.S. forces.”
The Trump administration said four previous attacks on similar vessels had killed 21 people transporting drugs.
In February, President Trump designated some drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations,” a move that government officials say provides legal justification for the attacks. But Democrats question Trump’s legal basis for using military force to attack ships that pose no imminent threat of attack, even if they are carrying drugs.
In October, the Republican-controlled Senate rejected a Democratic-backed bill sponsored by California Sen. Adam Schiff and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine that would have halted the use of military force against ships in the Caribbean.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
