A joint operation between the governments of the United States and Venezuela killed the leader of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua, Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the “Niño Guerrero”. The information was confirmed by both countries on Friday (12).
“This action was coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well,” said Donald Trump on his social network, Truth Social. The Venezuelan government published a statement following the American president’s announcement.
“The operation had specialized technological support and was developed through mechanisms of cooperation and exchange of intelligence information between the authorities of both countries,” stated the Venezuelan statement.
According to the Venezuelan government, the operation was carried out in the southeast of the state of Bolívar. The action would have involved conflict between the criminal group and the agents involved.
Trump stated that at the beginning of his administration he fulfilled his promise to designate Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. Before capturing former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, the American carried out a series of attacks on vessels that, the US claims, were taking drugs to the country via the Caribbean Sea. The claim is that some of them would be from the Tren de Aragua.
The organization is treated by the American government as responsible for violence in certain regions of the United States. Trump even claimed that Maduro was the commander of the Tren de Aragua — an allegation contradicted by American intelligence documents made public.
Leader Niño Guerrero was already the target of accusations from federal prosecutors in New York for crimes such as criminal association, extortion, drug and weapons trafficking. The US State Department offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
