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In less than two months, the President donald trump and Secretary of Defense pete hegseth Let us tell you that the US Army has killed 32 people in seven attacks against drug smuggling ships. Caribbean Sea.
Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stop the flow of drugs into the United States. He has claimed that the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, relying on the same legal authority used by the Bush administration when it declared a war on terror after the September 11 attacks.
But as the number of strikes has increased, a debate has arisen Congress The President’s power has exceeded its limits. The attacks have occurred without any legal investigation or traditional declaration of war from Congress, and some lawmakers have raised questions about the lack of hard evidence to justify the killings.
Meanwhile, an unusual naval gathering in South America has raised fears of an invasion Venezuela And there is speculation that Trump may try to topple President Nicolas Maduro, who faces drug terrorism charges in the US
Here’s a timeline of US military actions and some lawmakers’ concerns:
20th January
Trump signed an executive order on his first day in the White House that paves the way for criminal organizations and drug cartels to be designated “foreign terrorist organizations.” These also include Venezuela’s street gang Tren de Aragua.
The US intelligence community has refuted Trump’s central claim that Maduro’s administration is working with Tren de Aragua and promoting drug trafficking and illegal immigration to the US.
February 20
The Trump administration has formally designated eight Latin American crime organizations as foreign terrorist organizations.
This label is typically reserved for groups like al-Qaeda or Islamic State that use violence for political purposes – not for profit-focused crime groups.
August 19
The military has deployed three Aegis guided-missile destroyers to Venezuelan waters as part of Trump’s effort to combat threats from Latin American drug cartels, US officials have confirmed.
The naval force in the Caribbean grew within a few weeks to include three amphibious assault ships and two other US Navy ships, totaling approximately 6,000 sailors and Marines. Amphibious assault ships carry a variety of aircraft, and the US deployed F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico in September.
A naval submarine is also operating from South America and is capable of carrying and launching cruise missiles.
september 2
The US launched its first attack on what Trump says was a drug-carrying ship that departed from Venezuela and was operated by Tren de Aragua.
Trump says 11 people were killed and also posts a short video clip showing flames rising from a small plane. The video does not show any large or obvious cache of drugs inside the boat.
September 10
In a letter to the White House, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia and two dozen other Democratic senators say the Trump administration has provided “no valid legal justification” for the strike.
The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, said in a floor speech that week that the U.S. military “is not competent to hunt down suspected criminals and kill them without trial.”
september 11
In Venezuela, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello accused the US government of the killing, while raising questions about how those on board the targeted ship were gang-related.
“And how did they identify them as members of the Tren de Aragua? Did they have, I don’t know, a chip? Did they have a QR code and (the U.S. military) read it from above in the dark?” Cabello said. “He openly confessed to the murder of 11 people.”
September 15
US forces launched their second attack against an alleged drug boat, killing three people.
Asked what evidence the US had that the ship was carrying drugs, Trump told reporters: “We have evidence. You just have to look at the cargo that was scattered all over the ocean – huge bags of cocaine and fentanyl scattered everywhere.”
19 september
Trump says US military conducted third deadly attack on alleged drug smuggling ship. The president says three people were killed in the attack and that intelligence “confirmed that the ship was smuggling illegal narcotics.”
Many senators and human rights groups continue to question the legality of the strikes, describing them as a potential limitation of executive authority.
2 October
Trump declared drug cartels outlawed combatants and said the U.S. is now in “armed conflict” with them, according to a Trump administration memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The memo appears to represent an extraordinary assertion of presidential war powers, with Trump effectively declaring that drug trafficking into the US is tantamount to armed conflict that requires the use of military force.
The memo was criticized by some lawmakers, including Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. He said that only Congress has the authority to declare war and described the memo as “a way to pretend” that the administration is informing lawmakers with the justification for the strikes.
3 October
Hegseth says he ordered a fourth attack on a small boat that is accused of carrying drugs in Venezuelan waters. They say four people died in the attack, but no details have been given about who they were or what group they belonged to.
Trump said in his social media post that the boat was “loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 to 50 thousand people” and that it was “entering US territory” off the coast of Venezuela.
8th October
Senate Republicans rejected legislation that would have required the President to seek authorization from Congress before further military attacks on the cartels.
The vote fell mostly along party lines, 48–51, with two Republicans, Paul and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voting in favor and Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voting against.
14 October
Trump announced a fifth strike against a small boat accused of carrying drugs, saying it killed six people. The President says that “intelligence” has confirmed that the ship was connected to a “narcoterrorist network” and was smuggling narcotics on a known drug trafficking route.
15 October
Trump confirmed that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela and said that he was considering conducting ground operations in the country.
The president says the administration is “looking for ground” as it considers further attacks in the area. He declined to say whether the CIA had the authority to take action against Maduro.
16 October
The navy admiral who oversees military operations in the region says he will retire in December.
Admiral Alvin Holsey had become leader of U.S. Southern Command just last November, overseeing a region covering the Caribbean Sea and waters off South America. This type of posting generally lasts between three to four years.
16 October
Trump says the US has attacked a sixth suspected drug-carrying ship in the Caribbean, killing two people and leaving two survivors aboard the semi-submersible vessel.
The president later said that the survivors would be deported to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia “for detention and prosecution.” Extradition avoided the question of what their legal status would be in the US justice system.
17 October
U.S. forces attacked a seventh ship, which Hegseth says was carrying “substantial quantities of narcotics” and was linked to the Colombian rebel group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN. They say all three “terrorists” on board the ship were killed in the attack.
When Hegseth announced the strike on 19 October, he provided no evidence for his claim, but shared a brief video clip of a boat engulfed in flames.
20 October
Representative Adam Smith, a ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, called for hearings on the boat attacks.
Smith said in a statement about Holsey’s impending departure, “In my more than 20 years on the committee, I have never before seen a combatant commander leave his position so quickly and amid so much turmoil.” “I have never seen such a blatant lack of transparency on the part of an administration and department to meaningfully inform Congress on the use of lethal military force.”