The latest killings were confirmed as US officials were reportedly holding meetings to discuss possible military operations in Venezuela
Published on 15 November 2025
The United States military has confirmed that four people were killed in an attack on a boat in international waters – the 20th attack on ships in the Caribbean and Pacific – as officials from President Donald Trump’s administration held meetings on possible military operations in Venezuela.
In a post on Twitter on Friday, US Southern Command said the attack on Monday was authorized by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and that the boat was “narcotics smuggling”, without providing evidence.
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The Southern Command shared a simultaneous video clip, showing an aerial view of the boat traveling in the Caribbean before it burst into flames and exploded.
International law and human rights experts have repeatedly stated that such attacks amount to extrajudicial executions, even if the targeted individuals are suspected of drug trafficking.
The Trump administration has ordered at least 20 military strikes against suspected drug ships off the Pacific coasts of the Caribbean and Latin America in recent months, killing about 80 people.
‘Operation Southern Spear’
Senior Trump administration officials held three meetings at the White House this week to discuss options for possible military action against Venezuela, Reuters news agency reported on Saturday, citing unnamed officials.
The reported meetings come as the Trump administration continues to significantly expand the US military presence in the Latin America region, including F-35 aircraft, warships and a nuclear submarine.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon said the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier, had arrived in the Caribbean with at least 4,000 sailors and dozens of “strategic aircraft.”
In total, there are now about 12,000 U.S. sailors and Marines in the region, which Secretary Hegseth formally named “Operation Southern Spear” on Thursday.
Under the US Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war.
But Trump has said he “wouldn’t necessarily call for a declaration of war” to continue killing “people who are bringing drugs into our country.”
A recently published Reuters/Ipsos poll found that the US military surge in South America is unpopular with the American public.
Only 29 percent of those surveyed said they support extrajudicial killings of suspected smugglers, and only 21 percent said they support military intervention in Venezuela.
US military build-up threatens ‘zone of peace’ in Latin America
Leaders of several Central and South American countries have condemned the ongoing US attacks and military buildup in the region, saying it violates a 2014 agreement designating the region as a “peace zone”.
The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), a regional grouping of 33 countries, signed the declaration in Havana, Cuba in 2014. America is not its member.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said in a statement that the US deployment was an “act of provocation that threatens the self-determination of our people”, according to Venezuela-based TV channel Telesur.
Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian leader Gustavo Petro have also criticized the US attacks.
In a national broadcast last week, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the Trump administration was “creating a new eternal war” in the region.
Maduro said his country, which is struggling economically under US sanctions, had prepared for a “massive deployment” of forces in the event of a US attack.