The United States military has confirmed that four people were killed in an air strike on a boat in international waters, marking the 20th reported attack on vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific this year. The operation comes as the Trump administration weighs potential military actions in Venezuela and significantly expands its presence in the region.
US Southern Command said Friday on X that the strike, carried out Monday, was authorized by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The statement described the targeted vessel as “trafficking narcotics” but did not provide evidence to support the claim.
The strike coincides with a rapid US military buildup across the Caribbean. Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced the arrival of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier, about 4,000 sailors, and dozens of tactical aircraft.
According to defense officials, roughly 12,000 US sailors and Marines are now deployed in the region under Operation Southern Spear, a mission formally named by Secretary Hegseth on Thursday.
Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress holds the authority to declare war. But President Donald Trump has publicly suggested he may not seek formal authorization to continue lethal operations targeting suspected drug traffickers.
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Trump said he would not “necessarily ask for a declaration of war” to keep killing individuals “that are bringing drugs into our country.”
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll indicates that US public support for expanded military action in South America remains low. Only 29% of respondents said they supported extrajudicial killings of suspected traffickers, while 21% backed military intervention in Venezuela.
Governments across Central and South America have criticized the strikes and the growing US deployment, warning that Washington’s actions undermine a 2014 regional accord establishing Latin America and the Caribbean as a “Zone of Peace.”
The declaration, signed in Havana by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), a 33-nation bloc that excludes the US — commits members to peaceful dispute resolution and non-intervention.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla called the buildup “an act of provocation that threatens the self-determination of our peoples,” according to the Venezuela-based broadcaster Telesur.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro have also condemned the US operations, urging respect for regional sovereignty.
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, whose government remains under heavy US sanctions, warned last week that Washington is “fabricating a new eternal war” in the hemisphere.
