Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a U.S. strike in international waters off Venezuela on Friday killed four people on a vessel alleged to be trafficking narcotics, with a video of the attack posted online.
- The administration’s notice to Congress states that designated cartels are non‑state armed groups, labels suspected smugglers as unlawful combatants, and directs operations under the law of armed conflict.
- Friday’s action is the fourth such strike since early September, bringing the publicly acknowledged death toll to at least 21 from attacks on suspected smuggling boats in the southern Caribbean.
- Legal experts and several lawmakers question the authority and evidence for lethal military action at sea, pressing why the military is striking instead of the Coast Guard and calling for greater oversight.
- Venezuela denounced the operations after reporting U.S. fighter jets near its coast, as the United States bolsters regional deployments including F‑35s and multiple warships.