The US has executed a 17th deadly strike in the Caribbean. The latest, on 6 November, killed three people. According to US defence secretary Pete Hegseth those killed were ‘narco-terrorists’ who posed a threat equal to Al Qaeda. Critics reject this now-standard US claim, saying the escalation is about removing Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
As we’ve said before, vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will continue until their the poisoning of the American people stops.
Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist… pic.twitter.com/gQF9LpSjqD
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 7, 2025
Caribbean dirty war
The investigative watchdog Air Wars reported Thursday’s strike brought the death toll since early September to 69.
President Donald Trump has also floated the idea of direct attacks on targets inside Venezuela. And, US senators are trying to challenge the administration’s legal authority – or lack thereof – to keep hitting targets in the Caribbean.
On 5 November, Democrat representative Jim McGovern tweeted that Trump’s 60 day war power authority had run out on Monday:
Under the War Powers Resolution, the President must end the use of military force if not authorized by Congress within 60 days.
With respect to Trump’s boat strikes in the Caribbean, that clock ran out Monday.
These illegal strikes will now be even more illegal. pic.twitter.com/dLSWT0bHNc
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) November 5, 2025
It is perfectly possible Trump does not care. Another Democrat, Adam Smith, said on 6 November:
Trump is rather known for his – what would be the best way to put this – chaotic approach to things. He’s one to change his mind very quickly. So who knows?
Reporter uncovers hidden story of strikes
One reporter has started uncovered the story of some of those killed for Associated Press. Regina Garcia Cano travelled to Venezuela’s Caribbean coast to interview the families of nine victims.
Those interviewed insisted:
…the dead men had indeed been running drugs but were not narco-terrorists or leaders of a cartel or gang.
Most of the nine men were crewing such craft for the first or second time, making at least $500 per trip, residents and relatives said. They were laborers, a fisherman, a motorcycle taxi driver. Two were low-level career criminals. One was a well-known local crime boss who contracted out his smuggling services to traffickers.
In an interview with Associated Press, Cano said it was hard to get Venezuelans to speak generally out of fear of escalating state repression:
Repression is not new in Venezuela, but the government of President Nicolás Maduro has intensified it since last year’s presidential election, when ruling-party loyalists declared him the winner despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. More than 2,000 people were detained in the days after the election, some over over social media posts critical of the government.
She added:
The relatives of some of the men killed in the strikes were especially fearful of speaking to AP because police and state intelligence agents searched their homes shortly after their loved ones’ deaths.
The locals also feared repression from drug smugglers and the Trump administration.
They said they were incensed that the men were killed without due process. In the past, their boats would have been interdicted by the U.S. authorities and the crewmen charged with federal crimes, affording them a day in court.
US escalation continues in the region with an abandoned base being reopened in Puerto Rico. Additionally, the the US navy’s flagship – the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford – is on her way to the Caribbean from Europe to reinforce an already bloated military presence. As fears of repression dominate accounts from locals in Venezuela, Trumps’ Carribbean dirty war looks as though it can only escalate further.
Featured image via the Canary
