Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation, conducted at the direction of President Trump, targeted a boat allegedly run by a designated terrorist organization in international waters and left three men dead with no U.S. casualties.
- The action is the latest in roughly 15–16 U.S. strikes since early September across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, with media tallies reporting about 61–65 fatalities.
- The UN human rights chief has urged Washington to halt the operations, warning they could constitute extrajudicial executions, as U.S. authorities have not publicly identified victims or shown evidence of seized narcotics.
- Lawmakers are pressing for answers after briefings lacking key details; senators Mark Warner, Roger Wicker and Jack Reed have sought information as the administration relies on a classified legal opinion to justify lethal force against cartels.
- Recent targeting shifted toward Pacific routes, while regional tensions grow with deployments including Marines training in Puerto Rico and carrier assets near Venezuela; Trump told CBS he doubts a war with Venezuela but said Nicolás Maduro’s days in power are “counted.”