Trump: Eleven deaths in the US attack on drugship in Caribbean

According to President Donald Trump, eleven “terrorists” were killed in an attack by the US military on a ship in the Caribbean. The boat came from Venezuela and should have brought drugs to the USA, the Republican wrote on the Truth Social. The US State Department, on the other hand, said that the drug delivery was probably on the way to Trinidad and Tobago or to another Caribbean country.

It remained unclear how exactly the attack was conducted. Trump just wrote that no US soldiers had been harmed.

According to the President, the blow was directed against the Venezuelan drug gang tren de Aragua, which the US government classified as a foreign terrorist organization. The most powerful gang of Venezuela is involved in drug smuggling, protection, illegal mining and the smuggling of migrants. Finally, the Tren de Aragua also expanded its zone of influence to other countries in Latin America and the USA.

Already in the election campaign Trump had repeatedly talked about the Tren de Aragua and, for example, claimed that the Gang would control entire residential complexes in the state of Colorado. Local politicians rejected this representation.

The Trump article also shows video recordings that show how a boat is attacked and fire catches fire. Venezuelan Minister of Communication Freddy ñáñez questioned the authenticity of the video. It was most likely produced with the help of artificial intelligence, he wrote on the Telegram news platform.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke of a “fatal blow” against a drug-loaded ship in the South Caribbean, which had leaked from Venezuela.

The conflict between Venezuela and the United States has recently intensified. According to media reports, the United States has published several warships in front of the Venezuelan Caribbean coast in the past few weeks in order to intercept drug smugglers there.

In addition, the US government doubled the reward for information that leads to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to up to $ 50 million (around $ 43 million). The US judiciary accuses the authoritarian head of state of being involved in international drug deals.

For his part, Maduro accused the US government of actually targeting the mineral resources of the South American country. “You want to get our oil and gas for free,” he said. “The oil does not belong to Maduro and certainly not the gringos, but the Venezuelan people.”

Maduro had described the US military presence in the Caribbean as the “biggest threat” in a century. “Venezuela faces the greatest threat that our continent has experienced in the past 100 years,” he said on Monday at a press conference in front of foreign correspondents. “Eight warships with 1200 rockets and a nuclear submarine aim on Venezuela. It is an extraordinary threat. Not justifying, immoral and absolutely criminal.” In the event of an attack by the United States, he threatened with armed resistance.

Maduro had previously announced that it would recruit additional fighters for the paramilitary militia of the South American country. According to its own statements, the force belonging to the armed forces currently has around 4.5 million members. In addition to reservists, it also includes numerous members of the socialist government party, employees of state companies and pensioners. Security experts consider the militia military power to be questionable.