The death toll from new U.S. attacks on shipping in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean has reached nearly 100.
The U.S. military said four people were killed in recent attacks on ships in the eastern Pacific Ocean, announcing the “deadly” attack after U.S. lawmakers rejected a resolution seeking to curb President Donald Trump’s invasion of Venezuela.
The US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which leads Latin America’s burgeoning military operation Southern Spear, said Wednesday’s attack targeted “four male narco-terrorists” without providing evidence that the destroyed vessel was involved in drug trafficking.
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“This vessel was sailing along known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and engaged in drug trafficking activities,” Southcom said in a social media post along with a video showing the speedboat being destroyed.
The attack, ordered by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, brings the total number of U.S. attacks on ships in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea since September (acknowledged by the U.S. government) to 26, with a death toll of nearly 100.
Legal experts have accused the United States of carrying out extrajudicial killing operations on the high seas, but President Trump has justified the attacks as necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the United States from drug cartels, particularly those based in Venezuela.
On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 213-211 against a resolution directing the president to remove U.S. forces from engaging in or against Venezuela without Congressional approval.
The House also voted 216-210 against a resolution that would exclude U.S. forces from engaging “presidentially designated terrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere” unless approved by Congress.
The resolution’s defeat comes as President Trump threatens military action to remove the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and as a massive U.S. military deployment involving thousands of soldiers, Washington’s largest aircraft carrier and nuclear submarines is underway in Latin America.
On Tuesday, President Trump ordered a naval blockade of all oil tankers entering and exiting Venezuelan ports under U.S. sanctions, a move the Maduro government called a “grotesque threat” aimed at “stealing wealth that belongs to the homeland.”
Last week, it was reported that U.S. soldiers boarded and captured the oil tanker Skipper off the coast of Venezuela and took it to the U.S. state of Texas to unload its oil cargo.
The New York Times reported that Venezuela’s navy has begun escorting ships carrying petroleum products out of the port following President Trump’s announcement of the naval blockade. Several ships left the country’s east coast with naval escort Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the Times reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.
Latin American leaders and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres have also expressed concern as tensions between Washington and Caracas increase, raising the possibility of war.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called on the United Nations to act to prevent violence in Venezuela.
“It does not exist. We must do our part to prevent bloodshed,” he said on Wednesday, reiterating Mexico’s position against intervention and foreign intervention in Venezuela.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he was “concerned about President Trump’s attitude and threats toward Latin America.” Lula also said he encouraged dialogue between Caracas and the U.S. government in a phone call with President Trump earlier this month.
“The power of words can be greater than the power of guns…I said to Mr. Trump: ‘If you’re interested in talking properly with Venezuela, we can contribute. Now you have to be willing to talk and you have to be patient,'” Lula said.
According to reports, President Maduro spoke by phone with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Venezuela and condemned the US naval blockade.
The Agencia Venezuela news site reported that President Maduro “condemned the recent escalation of colonial threats against Venezuela.”
The Venezuelan leader also called a comment by a senior U.S. official that “Venezuela’s natural resources belong to Venezuela” as “barbaric diplomacy.”
