US blows up cartel boat amid increased tensions with Venezuela

The U.S. military conducted a strike on an alleged narco-trafficking ship off the Coast of Venezuela, killing six aboard the vessel, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday.

The move marks the fifth instance of such a strike in Caribbean waters in the last month, in an offensive which has now netted 27 deaths.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route,” said Trump in a Truth Social post on Tuesday. “The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike. No U.S. Forces were harmed.”

The Trump administration has intensified its campaign against alleged drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea, amid escalating tensions with Venezuela. Trump also called off diplomatic outreach with Venezuela on Oct. 6.

The administration recently declared that the U.S. is engaged in an armed conflict with drug cartels, classifying them as terrorist groups. This announcement was made to Congress by the president earlier in October.

Constituents are responding favorably to the action in the Caribbean, with more than 70% of Americans supporting the Trump administration’s strikes, according to a recent poll.

On Oct. 8, the Senate made a failed attempt to block President Trump in his use of kinetic force in the Caribbean, with Senate Democrats arguing that Trump’s unilateral use of force is illegal and dangerous. The resolution failed, with Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul voting with the Democrats.

“Is it too much to ask to know the names of those we kill before we kill them?” Paul said of the issue last week on the Senate floor. “To know what evidence exists of their guilt?”

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