Latest killing confirmed as US officials reportedly held meeting to discuss possible military operation in Venezuela
Published November 15, 2025
The U.S. military confirmed that four people were killed in an attack on a boat in international waters, the latest in attacks on ships reported in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, as officials from President Donald Trump’s administration reportedly held a meeting about a possible military operation in Venezuela.
U.S. Southern Command said in a post on X on Friday that Monday’s attack was authorized by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and that the ship was engaged in “drug trafficking,” without providing evidence.
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The Southern Command shared an accompanying video clip showing aerial footage of the boat sailing in the Caribbean Sea before it was struck and exploded in a fireball.
International law and human rights experts have repeatedly said such attacks amount to extrajudicial executions, even if the targets are suspected of drug trafficking.
In recent months, the Trump administration has ordered at least 20 military strikes against suspected drug ships in the Caribbean and off the Pacific coast of Latin America, killing about 80 people.
“Operation Southern Spear”
Reuters reported on Saturday, citing unnamed officials, that senior Trump administration officials met three times this week at the White House to discuss options for possible military action against Venezuela.
The reported meeting comes as the Trump administration continues to significantly expand the U.S. military presence in the Latin American region, including F-35 aircraft, warships and nuclear submarines.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier, arrived in the Caribbean carrying at least 4,000 sailors and dozens of “tactical aircraft.”
There are currently about 12,000 total U.S. sailors and Marines in the region, and Secretary Hegseth on Thursday officially named the operation “Operation Southern Spear.”
Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war.
But Trump said he was “not going to go any further than necessary to declare war” to continue killing people “bringing drugs into our country.”
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that the expansion of U.S. forces in South America is unpopular with Americans.
Only 29% of those surveyed said they supported extrajudicial killings of suspected human traffickers, and just 21% said they supported military intervention in Venezuela.
US military buildup threatens Latin America’s ‘peace zone’
Leaders of several Latin American countries have condemned the ongoing U.S. aggression and military buildup in the region, saying it violates a 2014 agreement that designated the area as a “zone of peace.”
The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), a regional bloc of 33 countries, signed the declaration in Havana, Cuba, in 2014. The United States is not a member.
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said in a statement that the U.S. deployment was “a provocative act that threatens the self-determination of our people,” according to Venezuela-based TV station Telesur.
Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian leader Gustavo Petro also criticized the US attack.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said on state television last week that the Trump administration was “fabricating a new forever war” in the region.
President Maduro said his country, struggling economically under US sanctions, was preparing what he called a “massive military deployment” in case of a US attack.
