The US has again attacked a ship suspected of containing drugs in the eastern Pacific. US Navy Southern Command (Southcom) announced on Sunday that three people were killed. The operation was carried out on Saturday.
Southcom also announced that the largest US aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, arrived in its Caribbean operations on Sunday. There are more than 4,000 sailors and dozens of fighter jets on board. Another warship was already on the scene.
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the “Southern Spear” military operation on Thursday, intended to target “narco-terrorists” in Latin America. The US has sent several warships and warplanes to the Caribbean in recent weeks.
America also wants to classify the Venezuelan drug cartel, Cartel de los Soles, as a foreign terrorist organization. The cartel is said to be linked to Venezuelan authoritarian ruler Nicolás Maduro and will be considered a foreign terrorist organization from November 24. The US Department of State announced this on Sunday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday accused the cartel of “terrorist violence” in the Western Hemisphere and drug smuggling into the US and Europe. The US Treasury Department has included the “Cartel de los Soles” (Cartel of the Suns) on its list of other terrorists this summer.
Trump is open to talks with Maduro
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of talks with Maduro on Sunday. “We can have talks with Maduro and we’ll see how it goes,” Trump told reporters on Sunday at Palm Beach International Airport in the US state of Florida. “You want to talk.”
Since September, US forces have repeatedly attacked vessels belonging to drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. According to a tally by the AFP news agency, at least 83 people died and more than 20 ships sank. Critics described the attack as an extrajudicial execution and contrary to international law.
The US accused Venezuela of actively encouraging drug smuggling into the US and thereby endangering the security of the US and its citizens. However, Venezuela’s left-wing nationalist President Nicolás Maduro suspects a US plot to overthrow him.
