
US President Donald Trump released footage on Tuesday of the US military carrying out a military operation in the southern Caribbean against a ship that he said was transporting narcotics from Venezuela.
Trump stated that the naval vessel was under the control of the criminal group Tren de Aragua (TDA) and that during the attack, 11 people whom he described as terrorists were eliminated by US forces. This action represents one of the rare interventions of the US military in this region.
According to the US State Department, Tren de Aragua, a group originating from Venezuela, has been declared a foreign terrorist organization.
The development comes as the US has increased its naval presence off the coast of Venezuela as part of efforts to crack down on drug trafficking networks in Latin America. So far, there have been no signs of any ground operations.
In response to this event, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered the deployment of troops along the border with Colombia and in coastal areas, while calling on citizens to engage with paramilitary forces.
"In the early hours of this morning, at my direction, U.S. armed forces conducted a direct strike against a Tren de Aragua narcoterrorist group located within the SOUTHCOM area of operations. This group is a foreign terrorist organization operating under the direction of Nicolás Maduro and is responsible for serious crimes, including mass murder, drug trafficking, sexual exploitation, and violence in the United States and throughout the Western region," Trump declared.