The U.S. government confirmed the launch of three armed attacks on four vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing 14 people. The operations were ordered directly by President Donald Trump and executed by the War Department, with no independent evidence presented so far to support the drug trafficking allegations.

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U.S. Army Kills 14 People in Attacks on Boats off Colombia

War Secretary Pete Hegseth referred to the people killed as “narco-terrorists” and claimed that they belonged to organizations classified by Washington as terrorists. However, no details were provided on the nationalities of the victims, their identity or the specific nature of the alleged illegal activities. One of the attacked boats had a survivor, whose custody was handed over to Mexican authorities.

The actions took place in international waters, outside any sovereign jurisdiction, which raises questions about the legality and legitimacy of these operations. The attacks were concentrated on maritime routes that the United States considers associated with drug trafficking, without the intervention of multilateral organizations or independent verification.

The Venezuelan authorities have denounced on several occasions the use of the fight against drug trafficking as a pretext to justify actions of interference in the region.

In his statement, Hegseth said that “these narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda,” and vowed to continue similar operations. The rhetoric used is reminiscent of the discourse used to justify military interventions in other regions, which raises concerns about possible escalations in Latin America under the argument of national security.

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