Tensions are rising with Venezuela after a U.S. military strike in the southern Caribbean Sea.
President Donald Trump says the U.S. has carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel that was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang. The president said 11 were killed in the rare U.S. military operation in the Americas.
The State Department also confirms the boat was linked to Tren de Aragua, a “designated narco-terrorist organization.” The gang is reportedly operating out of Venezuela under President Nicholas Maduro and is responsible for major drug smuggling into the U.S. and other countries in the region.
The U.S. Navy has deployed eight ships to the area to curb the activity of drug cartels.
“No one should be surprised. That’s why they’re there on a counterdrug mission, and they’re going to continue to operate. As far as specifics and future operations, I have to refer you to the Pentagon on that,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Some say the attack could be aimed at undermining President Maduro. The Venezuelan dictator has threatened to respond with force to any military action.
Some in the region are applauding the move, like Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
“I, along with most of the country, am happy that the U.S. naval deployment is having success in their mission,” Persad-Bissessar said in a statement. “The pain and suffering the cartels have inflicted on our nation is immense. I have no sympathy for traffickers; the U.S. military should kill them all violently.”
Rubio has said that the drugs aboard the vessel were likely headed to Trinidad or elsewhere in the Caribbean.
“Our country has been ravaged by bloody violence and addiction because of the greed of the cartels,” Persad-Bissessar said. “The slaughter of our people is fueled by evil cartel traffickers.”
