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Former President Donald Trump has stated that the US military destroyed a Venezuelan vessel, purportedly involved in drug trafficking, while it was traversing international waters en route to the United States.
In a statement released Monday, Trump asserted that three individuals were killed in the strike targeting “violent drug trafficking cartels.” He did not provide corroborating evidence to confirm the vessel was carrying narcotics.
Prior to Trump’s statement, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro declared that Caracas would defend itself against US “aggression,” referring to US diplomat Marco Rubio as the “lord of death and war.”
Tensions between the two nations have escalated following the US deployment of warships to the southern Caribbean, ostensibly for counter-narcotics operations, which included a strike resulting in 11 fatalities.
“This morning, on my orders, US military forces conducted a second kinetic strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels pose a threat to US national security.”
The post was accompanied by a roughly 30-second video appearing to depict a vessel exploding on the water and subsequently engulfed in flames.
Speaking later from the Oval Office, Trump claimed that the US had documented proof that the vessels belonged to narco-terrorist groups.
“All you have to do is look at the cargo – it was spattered all over the ocean – big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place,” he said. “We recorded them. It was very careful, because we know you people would be after us. We’re very careful.”
Trump further stated that maritime drug trafficking to the US had decreased due to recent efforts, while acknowledging that narcotics were still entering the country via land routes.
“We’re telling the cartels right now, we’re going to be stopping them too,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, Rubio defended the initial strike on a vessel allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela, which resulted in the death of all 11 individuals on board. He asserted that Washington had “100% fidelity and certainty” that the vessel was involved in trafficking to the US.
“What needs to start happening is some of these boats need to get blown up,” he stated during a Fox News interview, adding that Maduro represented “a direct threat to the national security” of the US due to his alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
Later on Monday, Maduro commented that relations with the US had “been destroyed by their bomb threats.”
“We have moved from a period of battered relations to a completely broken one.”
The Venezuelan president affirmed that his government would “fully” exercise its “legitimate right to defend itself.”
Legal experts previously told the BBC that the deadly strike on the first vessel in international waters may have violated international human rights and maritime law.
When asked by a journalist on Sunday whether the US would “start doing strikes on mainland Venezuela,” Trump responded: “We’ll see what happens.”
Speaking to reporters in New Jersey, the former president alleged that Venezuela was “sending us their gang members, their drug dealers and drugs.”
He added that maritime traffic in the southern Caribbean had significantly decreased “since the first strike.”
Experts have raised questions about the legality of the September 2 attack on the alleged drug vessel, suggesting it may have violated international law.
Venezuela responded by deploying two F-16 fighter jets over a US Navy destroyer two days later.
This prompted Trump to warn that any Venezuelan jets putting “us in a dangerous situation” would be shot down.
Following a period of relative calm, tensions resurfaced on Saturday when Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil accused US forces of boarding a Venezuelan vessel.
Gil described the vessel as a “small, harmless” fishing boat that was seized “illegally and hostilely” for eight hours.
In a statement, the Venezuelan foreign ministry alleged that those who ordered the seizure were “looking for an incident to justify escalating war in the Caribbean, with the aim of regime change” in Caracas.
The US, along with numerous other nations including the UK, has not recognized the re-election of Maduro in July 2024, citing evidence gathered by the opposition and independent observers indicating that his rival, Edmundo González, won the election decisively.
US officials have also accused Maduro of leading a drug cartel known as the Cartel of the Suns and are offering a reward of $50 million (£37 million) for information leading to his capture.
Maduro has denied these allegations, accusing the US of an “imperialist move” to depose him.
He has called upon Venezuelans to enlist in the militia, a civilian force that has historically been used primarily to bolster attendance at political rallies and parades.
Reports indicate that public sector workers have faced pressure to join the militia.
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