The US military's Southern Command has carried out its second deadly boat strike in a week, bringing the death toll to 133. The latest strike, which occurred on Friday in the Caribbean, resulted in the deaths of three suspected drug smugglers. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. The command included a video of the strike, showing a boat traveling through the water as it explodes into flames after being hit with what appears to be a missile.
This strike comes after a similar attack on another boat in the eastern Pacific on Monday, which resulted in the deaths of two suspected drug smugglers, with one survivor. According to Pentagon statements tallied by the Intercept, the death toll from these strikes has now reached at least 133 people in 39 strikes. This appears to be the command's first strike in the Caribbean since November, with the vast majority of recent strikes happening in the Pacific.
The legality of these boat strikes is under scrutiny, with legal experts saying the attacks amount to extrajudicial killings by the Pentagon with a complete lack of accountability. The Trump administration is being criticized for asserting and exercising an apparently unlimited license to kill people that the president deems to be terrorists. The Southern Command's new head, Gen Francis L Donovan, took over after Alvin Holsey, a US navy admiral, chose to retire over reported disagreements over the boat-strike policy.
The US has also launched an attack on the capital of Venezuela in early January, apprehending then-president Nicolás Maduro on alleged drug-trafficking charges. The Pentagon has framed its operations in the region as a campaign against "narco-terrorism", but has provided scant evidence of coordinated drug-smuggling rings. The controversy surrounding these strikes and the administration's approach to drug trafficking in the region continues to spark debate and calls for accountability.
