Under the argument of combating drug trafficking, Donald Trump‘s Administration escalated its offensive against Latin American cartels that it considers terrorists and to whom it has declared a “direct armed conflict” that, according to Washington, justifies its military actions in international waters.
What is the balance of the conflict?
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The United States Army claims that it has sunk twenty boats and 75 lives, in addition to leaving one person missing, in Caribbean and Pacific waters as a result of several attacks, in a new stage of its war on drugs.
When did the escalation of the conflict begin?
The increase in tensions began in August with the deployment of US Army ships in the Caribbean and with Venezuela in the spotlight, but has already spread to Pacific waters, involving Colombia.
Both the Government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and that of Gustavo Petro in Colombia, both accused by Trump of being drug traffickers, have denounced the attacks on the boats as murders and extrajudicial executions. The UN assured that these are violations of international law and asked the United States to put an end to them.
How many attacks has the US carried out, and when?
On September 2, the United States announces the first attack against a ship and assures that eleven people were on board the Aragua Train who left Venezuela to transport drugs to the United States. The Trump Administration released the video of the alleged attack, but did not provide further evidence of the boat’s link to drug trafficking.
On September 15, a second attack on a boat kills three Venezuelans, according to Trump, who claimed that they were also transporting drugs.
On September 19, Trump published information online about a third attack against a boat, this time without specifying the origin of the trip, although the Dominican Republic seized part of the drugs it was allegedly transporting. Three people died.
On October 3, this time it is Pete Hegseth, Secretary of the War Department, who announces the fourth attack against a ship also in Caribbean waters and the death of its four crew members.
On October 14, according to the United States, the fifth attack against a boat occurred near the Venezuelan coast, resulting in six fatalities.
On October 16, a submarine was attacked by the US Army. Of its four crew members, two die and two survive the explosion. The two survivors are transferred to their countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, without any legal process despite the Trump Administration calling them drug traffickers.
The United States announced on October 19 that two days earlier it had sunk a seventh boat and linked it to the Colombian guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN), one of the organizations designated as terrorists by the Trump Administration. Three people die, according to Washington.
On October 21, the eighth attack against a boat supposedly linked to drug trafficking occurred, but it was the first to occur in Pacific waters, near the coast of Colombia, killing two people.
On October 22, Hegseth publishes the ninth attack against a boat, which kills three people again in the Pacific and near Colombian waters.
On October 24, the Trump Administration announces the tenth attack against a boat that, it claims, was operated by the Tren de Aragua and was transporting six people who died. The shot occurred “in international waters” of the Caribbean.
On October 28, the United States announces the deadliest attack to date. Fourteen people die from the destruction of four boats in international waters of the Pacific Ocean, while one survives and the Mexican navy launches a humanitarian operation to find him. Days later, the operation is suspended after failing to find the survivor.
October 29: This attack, always according to information from the United States Government, targeted a single boat and killed four people. It also occurred in the Pacific.
On November 1, Hegseth announces a new “lethal attack” against a ship in the Caribbean that, according to him, “was transporting narcotics.” The bombing killed all three people on board.
The head of the War Department claimed on November 4 that the United States sank a new boat in the Eastern Pacific and killed its two crew members, whom he accused of being drug traffickers.
On November 6, a new announcement speaks this time of a boat attacked and three crew members killed in Caribbean waters.
On November 9, the United States claims on November 10 that it sank two boats in the Pacific the day before, in two operations in which six people allegedly “linked to narcotics smuggling” died.
On October 16, Donald Trump authorizes CIA operations against Venezuela.
What is the current US military presence in the Caribbean?
For the most part, the boats identified by the US government have been hit through kinetic attacks, launched from a distance and based on the discharge of energy, without explosions involved. In addition to them, the United States has mobilized warships, with until now deterrent purposes.
The United States moved its warship USS Gravely, a destroyer, to the coast of Trinidad and Tobago, on October 25. He remained there for three days for joint training with the forces of the Caribbean country.
A day earlier, on October 24, the United States announced the deployment of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the Caribbean Sea. Until now, the location of the ship is not clear, whose last location was off the coast of Gibraltar, in Caribbean waters.
The USS Gravely left Trinidad and Tobago on 30 October.
How has Venezuela responded?
Given the growing military presence of the United States in the Caribbean, the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, ordered on September 19 to begin military training of civilians.
On September 21, the Venezuelan government confirms sending a letter to Washington, offering “dialogue.” The offer is rejected by Donald Trump.
On October 3, Venezuela demands that the United States “cease its warlike stance.”
On October 9, Maduro states: “If the gringos attack, we will respond.”
How has Colombia responded?
On October 19, Donald Trump describes President Gustavo Petro as a “drug trafficking leader.” After a series of verbal attacks between one president and another, and the settlement of a diplomatic crisis, Petro warns Trump about new attacks on boats in the Caribbean.
How has Mexico responded?
After Donald Trump authorized the use of force against Mexican drug cartels, through an executive order, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum ruled out a possible invasion of US forces into Mexican territory.
After the publication of versions about the possible sending of US troops to Mexico, Sheinbaum reiterated that “that is not going to happen.”
