After designating multiple Latin American and Haitian cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 2025, the US Administration escalated its stance when the president signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against the Latin American cartels. This unilateral decision, first reported by the New York Times on August 8th, has now led to direct military operations on a speedboat leaving Venezuela, killing 11 people.
The US government alleges that the boat belonged to the Tren de Aragua cartel and was carrying drugs but has yet to produce any kind of evidence. They blew up the evidence when they blew up the boat, and so we have no way of knowing what it carried, except for the 11 human beings that perished. The speedboat had reportedly turned around, heading back to the coast before the attack, clearly attempting to de-escalate this fateful encounter. These are extrajudicial killings that violate international law and the fundamental right to life, some even calling it an “act of war”. This marks a dangerous escalation that does not make the United States any safer. Quite the opposite.
This attack comes a few weeks after the Department of State doubled the bounty on Venezuelan president to $50 million. It is unclear whether the US military buildup in the Caribbean Sea, including this latest action, has anything to do with drugs. Instead, this military campaign appears to be pushing for a regime change in the resource rich Venezuela.
The administration has accused the Venezuelan president, without substantiation, of being tied to the Tren de Aragua cartel and the Cartel of the Suns. The latest UN World Drug Report does not consider Venezuela as a major player in international drug trafficking. In fact, most drugs produced in the Andean region leave from the port of Guayaquil in Ecuador. If the US government was serious about tackling drug trafficking, they would not be deploying their arsenal in the Southern Caribbean Sea but in the Pacific Ocean.
Blowing up speedboats in the Caribbean, without evidence, will most likely exacerbate an already complicated situation while ignoring the root causes. Drug lords are easily replaceable and the cartels in Mexico and Venezuela have extended their power network far beyond the illicit markets. These organizations cannot be dismantled through military force but through the strengthening of the judicial branch, protecting witnesses and whistleblowers and guaranteeing a free press to expose the culprits. Rather than holding cartels accountable, extrajudicial killings enable Venezuela and other countries in the region to name the US as the enemy and to consolidate their own power.
While the Mexican government reassured its people that there would be no invasion despite the threats targeting six Mexican cartels, the Venezuelan and Colombian authorities are repositioning their troops and preparing for an eventual US land operation. This seems to be a legitimate reaction when hearing the US Secretary of State claiming that such attacks could happen again.
Quixote Center has a long history of condemning US military interventions in Latin America, particularly in Nicaragua during the Contra Wars against the Sandinista. Most recently we joined a coalition of 37 groups asking Congress to reject this latest push for war in Latin America led by Win Without War. We were pleased to see the rebuttal by a Republican Senator who revealed that a drone had blown up the speedboat, violating all rules of engagement, further exposing this crime as a cold-blooded murder of 11 civilians. We urge more Members of Congress to exercise their power to prevent human rights violations and insist on rule of law and due process.
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