Washington (AP). President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the US had committed a strike in the South Caribbean Sea against a drug -carrying ship, which left Venezuela and ruled it by a Tren deragua gang.
The president reported in social media that 11 people were killed in a rare US military operation in America, and the dramatic escalation of the Republican administration to stop the flow of narcotic drugs from Latin America. Donald Trump also posted a short video that appeared in a small ship that exploded in flames.
“The strike occurred at a time when terrorists were in the sea in international waters transporting illegal drugs, going to the US,” said Truth Social. “There was no damage to US forces in this strike. I ask for this to be a message to anyone, even those who think of drug delivery to the United States.”
The video seems to show long multifaceted engine speeds on the sea, with a bright light flash over the craft. The boat is then briefly visible in the flame.
A video with most black and white color is not clear enough to see if the craft is carrying as many as 11 people. Nor did the video show any big or clear drug in the boat.
Tren de Aragua appeared more than a decade ago in a sadly unlawful prison with hardened criminals in Venezuela’s central Aragua state. The gang has expanded in recent years as more than 7.7 million
Short and administrative officers have repeatedly accused the gang of violence root and illegal drugs associated with some cities. And the president repeated his claim on Tuesday, contrary to the US -Decua -de -Aragua, which was acting in control of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The White House did not immediately explain how the military found that the members of the ship were members of the ship deragua. The size of the gang is unclear, as is how much its actions are coordinated between state lines and national borders.
What Maduro had to say
After Trump announced a strike, Venezuelan state television showed Maduro and first Mrs. Cilia Flores, who is walking on the streets of his childhood. The TV presenter said Maduro was “bathing in patriotic love” when communicating with sponsors.
“In the case of imperialist threats, God (is) with us,” Maduro told sponsors.
Maduro did not directly examine the strike, but accused the United States that “the wealth of Venezuela”, including oil and gas. The South American country has the world’s largest proven oil stock.
“From the neighborhoods of Karak … I say that Venezuela will have a peace that has sovereignty,” he said.
Communications Minister Freddy ñáñez questioned the correctness of the video. “Based on the video provided, it is very likely that it was created using artificial intelligence,” he said in his telegram account. He could not say what tools would have been used to create a video, but said he had shown “almost cartoon animation, not realistic explosion.”
For the first time, short and state secretary Marco Rubio first announced a strike earlier on Tuesday, just before Rubis left for a trip to Mexico and Ecuador for drug cartels, safety, tariffs and more.
In a brief exchange with journalists before leaving Miami to Mexico, Rubio postponed questions about the specifics of the strike for the pentagon. He said the ship’s drugs were probably directed to Trinidad or elsewhere in the Caribbean Sea.
For many years, Rubis has spoken out against Maduro and other Latin American leftist governments and supported opposition leaders. In 2018, during the first term of Trump, Rubio said “Univision” the need to “solid” to use the US military in Venezuela. He is also accused of the help of drug traffickers with Venezuela officials.
When asked if the short would carry out operations in Venezuelan land, Rubio was opaque. “We will take drug cartels wherever they are and wherever they work against the US,” he said.
The US sent the destroying waters to Venezuela
The operation occurred after the US announced plans to increase its marine forces in Venezuelan waters last month to fight Latin American drug cartel threats.
The Maduro government reacted by deploying troops along the Venezuelan coast and the border with neighboring Colombia, as well as the Venezuelan to engage in the civilian militia.
Maduro demanded that the US create a false narrative of drug transmission to try to pull it out of office. He and other government officials repeatedly quote the United Nations report that they say that merchants are trying to transfer only 5% of the cocaine made in Colombia through Venezuel. Bolivia and Colombia, with access to the Pacific and Caribbean, are the best cocaine manufacturers in the world.
The latest UN world drug report shows that various countries in South America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, 2022. Reported greater cocaine attacks than in 2021, but does not include the role of Venezuela as the White House in recent months.
“In particular, Ecuador has been felt by the increased trade of cocaine, which in recent years has caused a wave of fatal violence associated with both local and international crime groups, especially from Mexico and the Balkan countries,” the report states.
On Monday, Maduro’s reporters told him that he would “constitutionally proclaim the Republic of Weapons” if his country was attacked by US forces stationed in the Caribbean Sea.
___
Garcia Canno reported from Mexico. AP journalists Matthew Lee Mexico, Jorge Rueda, Caracas, Venezuela, Adriana Gomez Licon, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Sagar Meghani in Washington submitted messages.