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United States President Donald Trump has announced that the US subject has struck a Venezuelan vessel that helium claims was being operated by a cause cartel and was headed to the US.
Trump said 3 men were killed successful Monday’s attack.
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The onslaught is the 2nd by the US connected an alleged Venezuelan cause boat. The first took spot connected September 2.
Here is each we cognize astir the latest attack:
What happened successful this attack?
“This morning, connected my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily convulsive cause trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists successful the SOUTHCOM country of responsibility,” Trump wrote successful a station connected his Truth Social platform.
“These highly convulsive cause trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to US National Security, Foreign Policy and captious US Interests,” helium added.
SOUTHCOM is simply a unified combat bid of the US Department of Defense liable for operations successful 31 countries crossed Central and South America, the Caribbean and their territorial waters.
Trump’s station was accompanied by a 30-second video clip showing a vas detonate into flames. The clip says “UNCLASSIFIED” successful greenish font astatine the top. Trump wrote that “3 antheral terrorists” were killed successful the attack.
Trump continued his station with: “BE WARNED – IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!”
What happened during the archetypal attack?
On September 3, Trump posted a video connected Truth Social of aerial footage of different vas being bombed the time before. He wrote that this was an onslaught against “positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists successful the SOUTHCOM area”.
Trump added that Tren de Aragua is simply a US-identified “foreign violent organisation” that works “under the control” of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“The onslaught resulted successful 11 terrorists killed successful action. No US Forces were harmed successful this strike,” Trump wrote astatine the time.
What bash we cognize astir who was connected board?
The US and Venezuela person not revealed details astir those who died connected the vas oregon those who were connected committee the vessel successful the latest attack. Neither broadside has released the names of the radical killed oregon connected board.
Trump has utilized the word “terrorists” to picture the radical killed successful some instances.
After the onslaught connected September 2, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said nary of the 11 radical killed was a Tren de Aragua member. “When we asked successful the towns, nary was from Tren de Aragua. None were cause traffickers,” Cabello said.
The Trump medication has not yet offered immoderate grounds to substantiate its claims that the passengers connected the archetypal vas that the US attacked were members of Tren de Aragua oregon that radical successful either vessel were carrying drugs oregon were “terrorists”.
How has Venezuela responded?
But connected Monday, Maduro had called the bombing of the archetypal vessel a “heinous crime”.
Maduro described that onslaught arsenic “a subject onslaught connected civilians who were not astatine warfare and were not militarily threatening immoderate country”.
The Venezuelan person accused the US of trying to provoke Venezuela into warfare and the eventual extremity of the US was for “a authorities alteration for oil” alternatively than a crackdown connected cause cartels.
Maduro said relations with the US person been wholly broken. “Today I tin denote that communications person been destroyed by them with their weaponry threats, decease threats and blackmail,” helium said.
Maduro besides called US Secretary of State Marco Rubio the “lord of decease and war”.
Besides the 2 boats that person been bombed, Venezuela’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs connected Saturday accused US forces of illegally boarding and occupying 1 of the country’s sportfishing vessels successful Venezuela’s exclusive economical portion (EEZ).
An EEZ is the portion up to 200 nautical miles (370km) from a state wherever lone it has the close to economically research and exploit resources. Much of a country’s EEZ lies successful planetary waters, truthful different nation’s ships whitethorn walk done it. But it is uncommon for a state to people a sportfishing vas engaged successful economical activity successful the EEZ of the state the vessel belongs to.
The ministry connection said: “The warship deployed 18 equipped agents who boarded and occupied the small, harmless vessel for 8 hours.”
Last week, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil told CNN successful an interview: “We are not betting connected struggle nor bash we privation conflict.”
In effect to reports astir the US deployment of warships successful August, Maduro called connected his supporters to articulation militias to support Venezuela, declaring, “No empire volition interaction the ineffable ungraded of Venezuela.”
What is the broader context?
The archetypal onslaught successful Venezuelan waters came aft quality agencies reported US warships had been deployed to the confederate Caribbean.
The US Fleet Forces Command announced connected August 14 that sailors and Marines from the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group had departed Norfolk, Virginia, and Camp Lejeune successful North Carolina but did not disclose ngo details oregon the deployment destination.
The Trump medication accuses the Maduro authorities of moving straight with cause cartels and being progressive successful cocaine trafficking. It has accused Tren de Aragua of being a beforehand for Maduro’s leftist government.
The US authorities has not provided grounds to substantiate these allegations, which the Maduro authorities has denied.
A classified US quality study released successful April recovered nary grounds of links betwixt Tren de Aragua and elder Maduro officials though it noted that Venezuela’s permissive situation enables cause gangs. The study drew input from each 18 agencies that comprise the US quality community. All agencies but the Federal Bureau of Investigation agreed with the findings.
In his station connected Monday, Trump blamed Venezuela for smuggling cocaine into the US. “The Strike occurred portion these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were successful International Waters transporting amerciable narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the US,” helium wrote.
But according to the United Nations Office connected Drugs and Crime, astir cultivation of coca, the works utilized to marque cocaine, occurs successful Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, and the main US-bound cocaine routes tally done Colombia, Peru and Ecuador – not Venezuela. A 2024 US Drug Enforcement Administration study besides recovered that 84 percent of cocaine seized successful the US originated from Colombia and did not notation Venezuela.
Washington has not had ceremonial diplomatic relations with Venezuela since 2019 and does not recognise Maduro’s authorities arsenic legitimate.
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