Trump strikes an alleged Venezuelan drug boat: What to know

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Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration is promising to “wage fight” towards drug cartels following a strike concentrating on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat.

What occurred? On Tuesday, the US destroyed a small boat carrying 11 folks within the southern Caribbean Sea. The boat was in worldwide waters on the time of the strike, and its vacation spot was unclear, although Donald Trump mentioned it was sure for the US and the passengers had been “Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists.”

What’s the context? The Trump administration has made a string of aggressive strikes towards Venezuela in latest months, accusing it of “narcoterrorism” and cooperating with Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang working transnationally. Final week, the administration dispatched a number of US warships and an assault submarine to the Caribbean close to the nation.

What’s the large image? This might simply be the beginning of the Trump administration’s warfare on cartels. Trump has lengthy expressed curiosity in taking direct navy motion towards cartels, together with reportedly asking throughout his first time period about launching missiles into Mexico to focus on “drug labs.” Final month, Trump signed an order directing the usage of drive towards drug cartels his group has designated as terrorist organizations, together with Tren de Aragua.

Why does this matter? Tuesday’s strike represents new, questionable territory for the US navy. Although Tren de Aragua has been declared a international terrorist group by the Trump administration, that doesn’t give the president the authority to order 11 deaths with no pretense of course of. However the strikes are prone to proceed: Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed reporters Wednesday that “it’ll occur once more.”

And with that, it’s time to log out…

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