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President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. military conducted a "lethal strike" against a drug-carrying vessel from Venezuela in the southern Caribbean, marking an escalation in tensions as American warships continue deploying near Venezuelan waters.
"Over the last few minutes, [we] literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat," Trump said during an Oval Office news conference. "A lot of drugs in that boat. And you'll be seeing that, and you'll be reading about that. It just happened moments ago."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the operation on social media, describing it as a "lethal strike" against a vessel "operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization" that had departed from Venezuela. The number of casualties remains unclear.
The strike occurred as the USS Lake Erie, a guided-missile cruiser, transited the Panama Canal late Friday, joining seven warships carrying 4,500 personnel that Trump has deployed to Venezuelan waters in what the administration officially describes as anti-drug operations.
The naval force includes three guided-missile destroyers, at least one attack submarine, and 2,200 marines. However, administration officials privately acknowledge uncertainty about the mission's ultimate objectives.
"This is 105% about narco-terrorism, but if Maduro winds up no longer in power, no one will be crying," one Trump administration official told Axios.
Another official drew historical parallels: "This could be Noriega part 2," referencing the 1989 U.S. military operation that captured Panamanian President Manuel Noriega on drug trafficking charges.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Washington considers Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the "fugitive head of (a) drug cartel" rather than Venezuela's legitimate president. The administration has doubled the bounty for Maduro's capture to $50 million.
Caracas has had its own military preparations, announcing Monday the deployment of 15,000 security forces to the Colombian border and plans to patrol territorial waters with drones and naval vessels.
Maduro claimed to have mobilized more than four million militia members, declaring Friday: "What they're threatening to do against Venezuela—regime change, a military terrorist attack—is immoral, criminal and illegal."
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Maduro's leftist ally, defended the Venezuelan leader Monday, stating on social media: "The Cartel of the Suns does not exist; it is the fictitious excuse of the extreme right to overthrow governments that do not obey them."
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