US military action against a Venezuelan boat sparks condemnation and troop deployments.<\/p>\n
Published On 13 Sep 202513 Sep 2025<\/p>\n
Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n
share2<\/p>\n
Venezuela has accused the United States of illegally boarding and occupying one of its fishing vessels in the country\u2019s special economic zone, further escalating tensions between Caracas and Washington.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Saturday, Venezuela\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the vessel, carrying nine \u201chumble\u201d and \u201charmless\u201d fishermen, was intercepted by the US destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109) on Friday.<\/p>\n
Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
\u201cThe warship deployed 18 armed agents who boarded and occupied the small, harmless boat for eight hours,\u201d the statement said, calling the incident a \u201cdirect provocation through the illegal use of excessive military means\u201d.<\/p>\n
The move follows a US military strike last week in the Caribbean that killed 11 Venezuelans<\/a> and sank a boat that the administration of US President Donald Trump claimed, without evidence, had been transporting narcotics.<\/p>\n Venezuela has rejected these claims, with Minister of the Popular Power for Interior Diosdado Cabello insisting none of those killed was a member of the Tren de Aragua gang, as alleged by Washington.<\/p>\n \u201cThey openly confessed to killing 11 people,\u201d Cabello said on state television. \u201cOur investigations show the victims were not drug traffickers. A murder has been committed against a group of citizens using lethal force.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House defended the strike, with spokeswoman Anna Kelly calling the victims \u201cevil Tren de Aragua narcoterrorists<\/a>\u201d and saying that Nicolas Maduro is \u201cnot the legitimate president of Venezuela\u201d and is a \u201cfugitive.\u201d<\/p>\n Several countries deny Maduro\u2019s legitimacy<\/a> as a democratically elected leader due to what some have viewed as unfair elections, but the Trump administration has not provided evidence<\/a> linking the Venezuelan president to Tren de Aragua. US intelligence agencies have said there is no sign of coordination between the government and traffickers.<\/p>\n Pentagon officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n