President Donald Trump Monday announced the second military operation a boat allegedly carrying narcotics from Venezuela, killing three aboard the vessel. No US forces were harmed in the strike, the president announced in a warning to drug transporters. “BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The strike that Trump says was carried out Monday came two weeks after another military strike on what the Trump administration says was a drug-carrying speedboat from Venezuela that killed 11.The Trump administration justified the earlier strike as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.But several senators, Democrats and some Republicans, have indicated dissatisfaction with the administration’s rationale and questioned the legality of the action. They view it as a potential overreach of executive authority in part by using the military for law enforcement purposes.“This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S. These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests. The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike,” Trump wrote.
US-Venezuela tension
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday branded US Secretary of State Marco Rubio the “lord of death and war” over his tough rhetoric on Latin American cartels and vowed to defend against Washington’s “aggression.”Referring to the US naval build-up in the Caribbean and the recent deadly attack on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat, Maduro told reporters that Caracas would “fully” exercise its “legitimate right to defend itself.” He accused the US of attempting regime change in his country.