Washington.- The United States Army carried out on November 1 a new attack in the Caribbean Sea against a vessel that, according to the government, was linked to drug trafficking, and that left three crew members dead, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The Trump administration presents these operations as part of its strategy to combat drug trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean, but experts and international bodies question the legality of bombings in international waters.
The United States did not specify, this time as well, the nationalities of those killed. “This ship, like the previous ones, was known by our intelligence services to be involved in illicit drug trafficking; it sailed along a route identified with that type of operations and was transporting drugs,” Hegseth wrote on X.
“At the time of the attack, three narcoterrorists of male sex were aboard. The operation was carried out in international waters. The three died and no member of the United States forces was wounded,” added the secretary.
As has happened since the start of this campaign of executions, U.S. authorities did not reveal the identities of the victims nor the contents of the boat.
Since early September, the United States has carried out airstrikes both in the Caribbean and in the Pacific against vessels it portrays as belonging to narcotraffickers en route to its territory.
Experts and international bodies question the legality of these attacks in foreign or international waters, directed at suspects who were not intercepted or interrogated.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged the United States to suspend these operations and to guarantee investigations “fast, independent and transparent”.
The American president justifies his military deployment in the region on the grounds of a “war against terrorist gangs”, and has stationed there a large naval deployment.
Donald Trump also accuses the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, of being part of a “drug trafficking headquarters” and, unusually, publicly confirmed what is usually kept secret: the presence of CIA agents in Venezuela. Maduro denies the accusations and denounces attempts at destabilization and overthrow by Washington.
The U.S. president has also recently hardened his rhetoric about Colombia and President Gustavo Petro within the framework of the anti-drug campaign. He labeled Petro as “a leader of narcotrafficking” and announced the end of U.S. financial aid to Bogotá; days later, his administration imposed sanctions on the Colombian leader, through the Treasury Department, for alleged links to drug trafficking. The Colombian president rejected the accusations and anticipated legal action.
For some analysts, Trump’s strategy toward Latin America lacks coherence. For example, Michael Shifter, a professor at Georgetown University and specialist in regional policy, told the French newspaper Le Monde: “I don’t think there is a clear strategy for Latin America. What we see is a series of actions and decisions typical of Trump’s style in foreign policy: threatening and punishing certain countries».
