By Asaye Bankole
The United States military said it killed four people in its latest strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, announcing the “lethal” operation after U.S. lawmakers voted down resolutions aimed at curbing President Donald Trump’s aggressive stance toward Venezuela.
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which is leading the expanding “Southern Spear” military operation in Latin America, said the Wednesday attack targeted “four male narco-terrorists.” However, it provided no evidence that the destroyed vessel was involved in drug trafficking.
“The vessel was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route in the eastern Pacific and was involved in narco-trafficking operations,” SOUTHCOM said in a social media post shared with a video showing a speedboat being destroyed.
The strike, ordered by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, brings the total number of people killed to nearly 100 in U.S. attacks on 26 vessels figures acknowledged by Washington in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean since September.
While legal experts have accused the United States of conducting a campaign of extrajudicial killings in international waters, Trump has defended the operations as necessary to stop the flow of drugs into the U.S. from drug cartels, particularly those based in Venezuela.
On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 213 to 211 to reject a resolution that would have required the president to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities with or against Venezuela without congressional authorization.
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