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The Trump administration has prepared a fleet of warships nearby VenezuelaThat includes the largest US aircraft carrier, as US forces continue to blow up small boats accused of smuggling drugs for drug cartels.
The expanded US military presence, the largest in Latin America in decades, is fueling speculation about how forces might be deployed. chairman donald trump Without giving any details about the location, it is said that ground attacks are going to happen soon.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has insisted that the real purpose of US military operations is to force him from office.
The Trump administration says the military has killed at least 87 people in 22 known attacks in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since the beginning of September. Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and has said the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
As the number of strikes has increased without a declaration of war from Congress, lawmakers have questioned the legal rationale for them.
Following reports that the first attack included a follow-up attack to kill two survivors, Congress has launched an investigation into the operation. Lawmakers recently summoned the Navy commander who oversaw the attacks for a classified briefing.
Here is a timeline of US military actions, some lawmakers’ concerns, and the response in Venezuela:
20 January
Trump signed an executive order 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 US military has deployed three guided-missile destroyers to Venezuelan waters.
The naval force in the Caribbean grows within a few weeks to include three amphibious assault ships and other ships, approximately 6,000 sailors and marines, and a variety of aircraft.
The US deployed F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico in September, while a Navy submarine loaded with cruise missiles operated in South America.
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 all 11 people on board the boat were killed and posted a short video clip of the small ship bursting into flames.
September 10
In a letter to the White House, Democratic senators say the Trump administration has provided “no valid legal justification” for the strike.
Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed, top Democrat Senate Armed Services CommitteeSaid in a floor speech that week that the US military “is not able to locate suspected criminals and execute them without trial.”
September 15
US forces launched their second attack against an alleged drug boat, killing three people.
Asked what evidence the US had that there were drugs on the ship, Trump told reporters that large bags of cocaine and fentanyl were scattered throughout the ocean. However, photographs of what Trump described were not released by the military or the White House.
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 and has been criticized by some lawmakers, including Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.
3 October
Secretary of Defense pete hegseth They say he ordered a fourth attack on a small boat which they accuse of carrying drugs. They say four people were killed, but give no details about who they were or what group they belonged to.
8th October
Senate Republicans rejected legislation that would have required the president to seek authorization from Congress before further military strikes. The vote fell mostly along party lines, 48–51.
14 October
Trump announced a fifth strike against a small boat accused of carrying drugs, saying it killed six people. The President says intelligence has confirmed that the ship was smuggling drugs on a known drug trafficking route.
15 October
Trump confirmed that he has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela and said he is considering conducting ground operations in the country.
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 waters off the Caribbean and South America. Such postings generally last for 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. Three people were killed.
20 October
Representative. Adam SmithThe top 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.”
21st October
Hegseth says U.S. forces launched their eighth attack against a ship allegedly carrying drugs, killing two in the eastern Pacific.
The attack marks an expansion of the military’s target area in South American waters where cocaine is trafficked from the world’s largest producers.
22 October
Hegseth announced a ninth attack, another in the eastern Pacific, saying three people were killed.
24 October
Hegseth credited the US military’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford was ordered to proceed to this area.
24 October
Hegseth says the military has launched a 10th attack on a suspected drug-carrying boat, killing six people. They say the ship was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang.
27 October
Hegseth says three more attacks were carried out in the eastern Pacific, killing 14 and leaving one survivor.
Hegseth says Mexican authorities “took responsibility for coordinating the rescue” of the sole survivor, who is presumed dead after Mexico suspended its search after four days.
29 October
Hegseth says U.S. forces launched another attack on a boat they said was carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific, the 14th attack, killing all four people aboard.
29 October
Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, says the Trump administration briefed Republicans about the boat attacks — but not Democrats.
At the time the Senate was facing a possible vote on a war powers resolution, which would prohibit attacks in or near Venezuela without congressional approval.
31st October
UN human rights chief Volker Turk has called for an investigation into the attacks, which appears to be the first condemnation of its kind from the UN organisation.
Turki’s office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani delivered her message at a briefing: “The United States must stop such attacks and take all necessary measures to stop the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”
1 November
Hegseth posted another video announcing the 15th known attack, saying the ship in the Caribbean was operated by a US-designated terrorist organization. He did not name the group and said three people were killed.
4th November
In the 16th known attack, Hegseth posted on social media that two people aboard a ship in the eastern Pacific were killed.
That same day, the Ford aircraft carrier leaves the Mediterranean on her way to the Caribbean.
november 6
Hegseth declared the 17th known strike, killing three people.
november 6
Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation that would limit Trump’s ability to order strikes on Venezuelan soil without congressional permission.
Lawmakers from both parties have demanded more details on the attacks, but Republicans appeared more willing to give Trump leeway to continue building up naval forces.
9 November
According to Hegseth’s announcement the following day, US forces attacked two ships in the eastern Pacific, killing six.
10 November
Four people died in the 20th known attack on a boat accused of transporting drugs in the Caribbean, according to a social media post from the US military’s Southern Command.
11 November
The Venezuelan government has launched a “massive” mobilization of troops and volunteers for a two-day exercise inspired by the US military gathering.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López claims that the Venezuelan military is “stronger than ever in its unity, morale and equipment.”
Nov 15
A day later, three people were killed in the US military’s 21st strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific, according to a Southern Command post.
16 November
Ford arrived in the Caribbean in a major moment of the Trump administration’s show of force.
The arrival of the aircraft carrier brings the total number of troops on board about a dozen Navy ships in the area to about 12,000, in what Hegseth has dubbed “Operation Southern Spear.”
16 November
Trump says the US “may have some discussions” with Maduro and “Venezuela would like to talk”, without giving details.
“I’ll talk to anybody,” Trump said. “We’ll see what happens.”
4th December
As lawmakers begin investigating the attacks, Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley appears for a classified behind-closed-doors briefing at the Capitol. The investigation began after reports that Bradley had ordered a follow-up attack on September 2 to kill survivors of the first attack to comply with Hegest’s demands.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton later told reporters that “Bradley was very clear that there was no such order given to give them no quarter or to kill them all.”
Meanwhile, Democrats say they found the video of the entire attack disturbing.
Washington Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, says the survivors were “essentially two shirtless guys clinging to the bow of an overturned and disabled boat, floating in the water – until the missiles came and killed them.”
4th December
Four people were killed in the 22nd attack on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific, according to a Southern Command post.
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García Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela.