US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo: Kevin Dietsch.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the US may again attack vessels allegedly used for drug trafficking through the Caribbean, claiming that the cartels “have used maritime routes for many years” to traffic drugs to the US and that intelligence and interception efforts are insufficient to combat them, making it imperative to take more drastic measures.
“The president [Donald Trump] has declared these organizations—Tren de Aragua, Cartel of the Suns, and all the others… as narcoterrorist groups, operating in international waters, bringing drugs to the streets of America [sic], and the president used the American [sic] force and power to prevent and protect America [sic], and we blew up a boat. This could happen again, it could be happening right now, tomorrow, or in a few weeks,” Rubio stated at a press conference on Wednesday, September 3, in Mexico, where he met with Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum to discuss security matters.
Rubio emphasized that these criminal organizations, which, according to him, traverse Caribbean waters with shipments of illicit substances, “will not be able to keep acting with impunity.”
Deadly attack
The day before, Trump announced to journalists at the Oval Office of the White House that US forces had sunk “a vessel carrying drugs” that “had come from Venezuela.” His version was supported by Rubio, who called the event a “lethal attack” and added that the boat was operated by a “narco-terrorist organization.”
Subsequently, Trump posted a message on his Truth Social account claiming that the attack, carried out under his orders, was against “narco-terrorists from the Tren de Aragua gang,” who had been identified in the area of responsibility of the US Southern Command.
According to Trump, the boat was exploded in “international waters” and resulted in the deaths of 11 “narco-terrorists.” Neither he nor Rubio specified where the interception took place, how the origin of the vessel was determined, or what procedure was used to identify the criminal group allegedly involved.
US Forces Destroy Small ‘Venezuelan’ Boat Allegedly Carrying Drugs—11 Killed
Doubts and criticisms
Trump accompanied his message with a video showing both the bombed boat and the moment of the attack. However, the authenticity of the video was questioned by Venezuela’s Minister of Communication and Information Freddy Ñáñez, who subjected the video to a verification analysis with the Gemini artificial intelligence tool.
“It seems that Marco Rubio continues to lie to his president: after cornering him, he now presents as ‘evidence’ an AI-generated video (verified as such),” wrote the Venezuelan minister on social media, pointing out the inconsistencies identified by the generative AI platform.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro openly criticized the US procedure, calling it contrary to standard procedures when a narco-boat is intercepted. He said that the blowing up of the boat could have caused the “murder” of poor people.
“If this is true, it is murder anywhere in the world,” Petro wrote on X, referring to the video posted by Trump. “We have been capturing civilians who transport drugs without killing them for decades. Those who transport drugs are not the big narcos, but very poor young people from the Caribbean and the Pacific.”
In August, the US announced that it would carry out a naval and military deployment in the southern Caribbean, allegedly to combat drug cartels. In addition, US Attorney General Pamela Bondi doubled the US government “reward” for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, accusing him—without evidence—of “leading a drug trafficking cartel.” The bounty on the head of Venezuela’s democratically elected president was increased to US $50 million, a violation of international law.
The Venezuelan government says that the hostile actions of the US are aimed at bringing about a “military terrorist coup” to depose President Maduro and labeled Washington’s military deployment in the Caribbean as a “threat” to the peace of Venezuela and the region.
In that context, President Maduro called for voluntary enlistment of the people in the Bolivarian National Militia for the defense of the sovereignty of the country. So far, 8.2 million people have registered.
Despite the increase in tensions, the Venezuelan authorities maintain the “damaged” channels of communication between Washington and President Maduro and have shown openness to dialogue with Trump, as long as Rubio’s gunboat diplomacy is not imposed.
(RT)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SL
