An image from a video released by US President Donald Trump on social media; Trump claims that it shows a lethal strike on a small boat allegedly off the coast of Venezuela, Oct. 14, 2025. Photo: Truth Social@realDonaldTrump.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—On Tuesday, US ruler Donald Trump claimed that US military forces deployed in the Caribbean Sea carried out a new attack on a small boat “off the coast of Venezuela,” without specifying a precise location, killing six people he alleged were carrying drugs.
Since Sept. 2, Trump has allegedly ordered military strikes on at least five boats in the Caribbean Sea that his regime insists were carrying drugs to the US. This latest illegal action brings the number of extrajudicial killings committed by US military forces to 27 unidentified civilians.
Through Truth Social, the White House tenant published that his secretary of war, Peter Hegseth, ordered a “lethal kinetic attack” against a small boat supposedly off the coast of Venezuela, based on information allegedly provided by US intelligence.
https://t.co/AYyPZuUsm9 pic.twitter.com/1gY3vBnvqa
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) October 14, 2025
“Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility—just off the Coast of Venezuela,” wrote the US ruler. He added that “intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route. The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike. No US Forces were harmed.”
Trump accompanied his post with a video showing a small boat being targeted and subsequently hit by a missile or drone. The footage does not allow for the identification of the crew number or the existence or nature of any cargo. While posting videos on social media of the strikes, Hegseth and Trump have not provided details on who was killed, their nationalities, what kinds of drugs they were carrying, or exactly where they were located when murdered.
Legality and international reaction
The use of lethal military force against drug boats is unprecedented, with past US administrations relying on law enforcement to interdict drug shipments. Legal experts and lawmakers inside and outside the US have concluded that these killings are unlawful.
According to experts, this unprecedented behavior opens the door for any kind of atrocities against any human being around the world that might be wrongly targeted as a drug trafficker. For this reason, diplomats from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have raised concerns about this new US behavior. Washington is once again violating all international regulations by arbitrarily assassinating individuals in the Caribbean without accountability.
Defensive preparations in Venezuela
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, President Nicolás Maduro activated new military drills as part of Plan Independencia 200 in the states of Nueva Esparta, Sucre, and Delta Amacuro, in the east of Venezuela.
Through social media, he announced that he will combine preparation for a prolonged, active, and creative civilian resistance program with a permanent offensive, taking initiative in all fields and areas.
Venezuela’s PSUV Welcomes International Brigades to Defend Revolution Amid US Threats
“The entire military force of the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) is deployed to oversee all tasks, working alongside the legitimate political and civilian authorities of the country, the states, the municipalities, and our powerful grassroots movement,” the president wrote.
He emphasized that this part of Venezuela is a strategic corridor for the comprehensive defense of the homeland, extending from the Caribbean Sea to the Orinoco and south to the border with Brazil. Finally, he noted that the machinery is being fine-tuned to achieve peace, fully exercise sovereignty, and defend the right to life of the Venezuelan people amid recent US military and rhetoric escalation.
Analysts claim that US military threats have served to unite many Venezuelans on both sides of the political aisle under the banner of patriotism and self-determination. Simultaneously, the Venezuelan military has taken advantage of the situation to improve communication and interaction channels with the Communal Power (the communes). The training of hundreds of thousands of new enlistees in the civilian militia has also raise the defensive capabilities of the country and its morale.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SL
