The Trump administration intensified military operations in the Caribbean on Tuesday with a deadly missile strike against a boat carrying 11 Venezuelan drug traffickers. We did this work in the wonderful waters of the Caribbean Sea. Second, it underscores the growing hostility between the United States and Venezuela. It illustrates the administration’s deepened resolve to attack drug trafficking flowing out of the region.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced further details of the strike. He underscored that these attacks are just one element of a wider strategy to defeat drug cartels based out of Venezuela. In a Wednesday press briefing, Rubio pledged that law enforcement would continue to carry out operations like this. We share the administration’s desire to stop the flood of illegal drugs pouring into the United States.
Earlier that same day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went on Fox News to aggressively defend the Caribbean military buildup. He took great care to articulate the rationale for making that decision. He emphasized how crucial this strike was. It was a straightforward response to the increasing menace posed by drug trafficking groups, and in particular, the Tren de Aragua cartel.
“We have the absolute authority and complete authority to conduct that,” – Pete Hegseth
Rich Hegseth went even further. He highlighted that the unprecedented action taken against the drug traffickers constitutes a message to other criminals thriving in the same narcotics-related illegal operations.
“I’d say we smoked a drug boat, and there’s 11 narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean. And when other people try to do that, they’re gonna meet the same fate,” – Pete Hegseth
Juan González, the Biden administration’s senior director for the Western Hemisphere on the National Security Council, expressed this worry. He continued to urge these military actions were dangerously increasing the risk of a potential escalation. He stated that the ongoing operations risk “stumbling into an intervention scenario in Venezuela,” which could have disastrous consequences.
Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar slammed the Trump administration’s strategy. She maintained that Congress has not declared war on Venezuela or its criminal enterprises. She issued a strong caution against what she termed “lawless and reckless” Caribbean actions.
“Even the worst people in our country still get a trial,” – Pete Hegseth
Omar further criticized this action by reminding her colleagues that international law forbids such military strikes absent a showing of overwhelming proof of self-defense.
“There is no conceivable legal justification for this use of force. Unless compelling evidence emerges that they were acting in self-defense, that makes the strike a clear violation of international law,” – Ilhan Omar
The Trump administration has sent at least eight warships to Brazil in support of its drug war offensive. Furthermore, it has deployed punitive military assets in support of this mission. Among the measures contributing to this second military buildup, next week, our government will be sending 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico.
The situation escalated further when Venezuela accused the United States of “seeking a regime change through military threat.” The Venezuelan government responded with sharp condemnation of the missile attack. In reaction to what it considered hostile activity by Washington, it promised to build up its military.
Recently the US State Department has been aggressively moving against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. They’ve raised the bounty for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to a mindboggling $50 million dollars. This action is meant to bolster the effort to remove Maduro’s regime. Which is particularly rich, given that that regime stands accused of some high profile human rights abuses and corruption.
Venezuela’s recent moves have caused a stir. The US has heavily criticized the country for what the US called a “dangerously provocative action” of sending two military aircraft close to a US warship flying in international waters. Rubio seemed to foreshadow even more such raids targeting drug trafficking networks in Mexico City when he issued these warnings on Wednesday.
The international community is still split about the legitimacy of Maduro as Venezuela’s leader. Over 50 countries, including the US, do not recognize him due to claims of election fraud in 2018.
As tensions between the US and Venezuela worsen, Hegseth went even further. He reiterated that the military will double down on its unyielding war on drug traffickers.
“We’ve got assets in the air, assets in the water, assets on ships, because this is a deadly serious mission for us, and it won’t stop with just this strike,” – Pete Hegseth