Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a U.S. strike in the eastern Pacific on Wednesday killed four people in international waters and posted video purporting to show the attack.
- The administration now cites at least 14 strikes since early September across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific with a total of 61 fatalities, including three Pacific attacks on Tuesday that left 14 dead.
- Pentagon leaders label the targets as narco‑terrorists and assert intelligence showed drugs aboard the boats, though these claims have not been independently verified in the cited reporting.
- A spokesperson for UN Secretary‑General António Guterres voiced deep concern over expanding military activity at sea and stressed the need for accountability in any lethal incidents, echoing warnings from UN human‑rights experts about potential violations of international law.
- Associated Press reporting describes a failed 16‑month U.S. effort to bribe Nicolás Maduro’s chief pilot, as analysts warn the region’s U.S. military buildup, including the USS Gerald R. Ford heading south, risks escalation toward confrontation with Venezuela.