The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced Friday in Truth, his social network, a new attack, it is not clear if the third or the fourth, against a boat in the Caribbean which he accuses of being involved in drug trafficking.
“Under my orders, the Secretary of War [el secretario de Defensa, Pete Hegseth] ordered a lethal kinetic attack against a ship affiliated with a designated terrorist organization [por el Departamento de Estado] which was doing drug trafficking work in the area of responsibility of the southern command of the United States, ”he wrote. That command has jurisdiction in the countries of Latin America, except Mexico, and the European Caribbean sovereignty islands.
The announcement comes after, on September 2, the president of the United States announced a military operation against a vessel from Venezuela, with 11 crew members, who died in the attack, and that Trump reported Monday, he informed of the destruction of a second narcolanche, with “three narcoterrorist” on board, he wrote.
On Wednesday, before leaving state to the United Kingdom, the Republican spoke in a conversation with journalists at the foot of his presidential helicopter of a third boat, of which he gave no more details. It is not clear if it is the same mission about the wrote on its social network this Friday in a post that incorporates images in motion of the military operation.
According to Trump, intelligence services confirmed that this boat was a narcolanche that sailed “with the aim of poisoning Americans.” “The attack killed three narco -terrorists on board” and that the boat “was in international waters. No member of the United States armed forces was injured,” the text continues.
In his characteristic emphatic style, Trump concludes his Truth: Stop selling fentanil, narcotics and illegal drugs in the United States and committing violence and terrorism against Americans !!!
Doubtful legality
Trump frames these operations of doubtful international legality launched in the Caribbean in the crusade against drug trafficking by US authorities, which they consider as an act of legitimate defense. The president of the United States has ironized several times this week on a possible collateral effect: the attacks are causing the disappearance of ships of all classes in those waters.
The Trump administration considers that narco posters, especially those of Venezuela, represent a threat to “national security, foreign policy and vital interests of the United States,” he wrote Monday in Truth. Last February, Washington included the Aragua Train in the list of the State Department of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. In this Friday’s message he implies that he refers to this organization.
Since Trump considers that drug trafficking an “imminent threat” for the United States, he considers that he has the right to order military attacks without the need to request the approval of Congress, which would be the usual channel.
The first of the attacks remains surrounded by unknowns, and has generated a debate in Washington about its legality. A group of senators of both parties has demanded official explanations in a letter sent to Trump ,. Trump said the army, who carried out the operation, has abundant evidence that this boat was trafficing with drugs, but has not yet made them public. Chavismo denies that his 11 crew were drug traffickers.
On the second operation, Trump said Monday: “We have evidence. Just look at the cargo. He spread through the ocean: [había] cocaine and fentanyl everywhere. We have everything recorded very carefully, because we knew that you [los periodistas] They would persecute us [en busca de respuestas]”.
