By AAMER MADHANI, KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and REGINA GARCIA CANO, Related Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump mentioned Tuesday the U.S. has carried out a strike within the southern Caribbean in opposition to a drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela and was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang.
The president mentioned in a social media posting that 11 individuals had been killed within the uncommon U.S. navy operation within the Americas. He additionally posted a brief video clip of a small vessel showing to blow up in flames.
“The strike occurred whereas the terrorists had been at sea in Worldwide waters transporting unlawful narcotics, heading to the US,” Trump mentioned on Fact Social. “No U.S. Forces had been harmed on this strike. Please let this function discover to anyone even occupied with bringing medicine into the US of America.”
The video seems to point out a protracted, multi-engine speedboat touring at sea when a shiny flash of sunshine bursts over the craft. The boat is then briefly seen lined in flames.
The video, which is basically in black and white, isn’t clear sufficient to see if the craft is carrying as many as 11 individuals. The video additionally didn’t present any massive or clear stashes of medication contained in the boat.
Tren de Aragua originated greater than a decade in the past at an infamously lawless jail with hardened criminals in Venezuela’s central state of Aragua. The gang has expanded in recent times as greater than 7.7 million Venezuelans fled financial turmoil and migrated to different Latin American international locations or the U.S.
Trump and administration officers have repeatedly blamed the gang for being on the root of the violence and illicit drug dealing that plague some cities. And the president on Tuesday repeated his declare — contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence evaluation — that Tren de Aragua is working beneath Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s management.
The White Home didn’t instantly clarify how the navy decided that these aboard the vessel had been Tren de Aragua members. The scale of the gang is unclear, as is the extent to which its actions are coordinated throughout state traces and nationwide borders.
After Trump introduced the strike, Venezuelan state tv confirmed Maduro and first woman Cilia Flores strolling the streets of his childhood neighborhood. A tv presenter mentioned Maduro was “bathing in patriotic love” as he interacted with supporters.
“Within the face of imperialist threats, God (is) with us,” Maduro informed supporters.
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had first introduced the strike earlier Tuesday, shortly earlier than Rubio left on a visit to Mexico and Ecuador for talks on drug cartels, safety, tariffs and extra.
In a short alternate with reporters earlier than departing Miami for Mexico Metropolis, Rubio deferred questions in regards to the specifics of the strike to the Pentagon. He mentioned the medicine on the vessel had been possible headed to Trinidad or elsewhere within the Caribbean.
For years, Rubio has spoken out in opposition to Maduro and different Latin American leftist governments and supported opposition leaders. In 2018, throughout Trump’s first time period, Rubio informed Univision there was a “robust argument” to be made for using the U.S. navy in Venezuela. He’s additionally accused Venezuelan officers of aiding drug traffickers.
Requested if Trump would perform operations on Venezuelan soil, Rubio was opaque. “We’re going to tackle drug cartels wherever they’re and wherever they’re working in opposition to the pursuits of the US,” he mentioned.
The U.S. had not too long ago introduced plans to spice up its maritime pressure within the waters off Venezuela to fight threats from Latin American drug cartels.
The U.S. has not signaled any deliberate land incursion by the 1000’s of personnel being deployed. Nonetheless, Maduro’s authorities has responded by deploying troops alongside Venezuela’s coast and border with neighboring Colombia, in addition to by urging Venezuelans to enlist in a civilian militia.
Maduro has insisted that the U.S. is constructing a false drug-trafficking narrative to attempt to pressure him out of workplace. He and different authorities officers have repeatedly cited a United Nations report that they are saying exhibits traffickers try to maneuver solely 5% of the cocaine produced in Colombia via Venezuela. Landlocked Bolivia and Colombia, with entry to the Pacific and Caribbean, are the world’s high cocaine producers.
The most recent U.N. World Drug Report exhibits that varied international locations in South America, together with Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported bigger cocaine seizures in 2022 than in 2021, nevertheless it doesn’t assign Venezuela the outsize function that the White Home has in latest months.
“The influence of elevated cocaine trafficking has been felt in Ecuador particularly, which has seen a wave of deadly violence in recent times linked to each native and transnational crime teams, most notably from Mexico and the Balkan international locations,” in accordance with the report.
Maduro on Monday informed reporters he “would constitutionally declare a republic in arms” if his nation had been attacked by U.S. forces deployed to the Caribbean.
Garcia Cano reported from Mexico Metropolis. AP journalists Matthew Lee in Mexico Metropolis, Adriana Gomez Licon in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and Sagar Meghani in Washington contributed reporting.
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